More than 35 years later, Cole Trickle’s new leading lady has ruffled some feathers for a previous Days of Thunder co-star.
After Anne Hathaway was announced to join Tom Cruise in Paramount’s Days of Thunder 2, Randy Quaid had some unsavory words for the Oscar-winning actress, who is currently pregnant with her third child.
“We need Nicole back. Don’t be a pussy, @TomCruise,” he wrote on X. “You need the original girl. It’s not personal; it’s filmmaking. Anne isn’t sexy, because and if you haven’t noticed, she’s pregnant.”
After meeting on the set of the Tony Scott-helmed racing drama, Cruise was married to Kidman from 1990 to 2001. The pair, who also starred in Ron Howard’s Far and Away (1992) and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999), has not appeared onscreen together since their divorce.
Quaid, who played NASCAR team owner Tim Daland in Days of Thunder, added in another post, “If I were in control of production, a real sequel worth watching for DAYS OF THUNDER would be seeing Tom and Nicole together on screen again. We don’t need a new girl; we need a new race car!”
“Anne Hathaway is a leftist, woke, horrible choice for DAYS OF THUNDER NASCAR audience who are MAGA,” he continued in another post. “The sexy older chick for Tom in this film needs to be Nicole. That’s the casting that would sell the idea. It’s interesting because when we made the first one there was also a rush to get it out; editors slept in the cutting room on shifts. This is a weird thing, like they want it to come out and tank.”
The rant came hours after Quaid appeared to tease his return for the sequel, which could now prove awkward, if true. “Hey, Tom Cruise just called me. We’re making Days of Thunder 2!” said Quaid in a video. Deadline has reached out to Paramount.
On Saturday, Paramount Pictures announced that Hathaway would join Cruise in the sequel, premiering June 2, 2028 in Imax, with the pair celebrating the news in a video from Daytona. While plot details are unknown, the actress is expected to play a team owner and engineer.
Last month, Jonathan Levine was tapped to direct the followup, which is penned by Will Staples. Cruise serves as a producer, along with Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper.
Days of Thunder, directed by the late Tony Scott, was released during the summer of 1990 and made $82.6 million at the domestic box office, and $157.9M worldwide. Cruise starred in the Robert Towne-written pic as Cole Trickle, a hot-headed rookie stock car driver who joins NASCAR and must overcome personal and professional challenges to achieve success.
