Tom Cruise, an all-time great movie star, has never made a movie with Anne Hathaway, one of the most famous and recognizable stars of the past decade. That’s about to change with a somewhat unlikely project: Days of Thunder, which seems to be the title of what’s actually Days of Thunder 2, a sequel to Cruise’s 1990 racecar drama.
Of course, Days of Thunder itself once functioned as a de facto sequel, to Cruise’s career-defining 1986 smash Top Gun, before that movie had an official follow-up. Thunder reunited Cruise with the director (Tony Scott), producers (Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson), and subject matter (speed!) as Top Gun, casting Cruise as cocky driver Cole Trickle, who must find within himself the discipline to tame his own risk-taking skill set and maybe become a marginally better person. Though it was a much-hyped addition to the summer 1990 lineup, the movie was not as big a deal as Top Gun. It made nearly $100 million less in North America, and was overshadowed by surprise hits like Ghost and Presumed Innocent. True to its sequel-y feel, Days of Thunder was closer to that summer’s financially disappointing follow-ups like Back to the Future Part III and Another 48 Hours. As such, and quite unlike Top Gun: Maverick, which had a built-in curiosity factor as it belatedly followed a still-beloved movie, Days of Thunder 2 seems like far less of a guaranteed hit.
That said, Days of Thunder does have some bits and pieces of odd cultural influence. First, its casting of John C. Reilly helped inspire his appearance in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (a much better racing movie, on the balance). More notably, it was the movie where Cruise met Nicole Kidman, who plays Cole’s neurosurgeon love interest. The couple wed at the end of 1990, adopted two children together, and starred in two more movies, Far and Away (1992) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999), before separating in early 2001. Because both of those projects represented Cruise branching out from his usual roles, Days of Thunder actually stands as their most financially successful collaboration, even though it’s not especially well-regarded.
So, why make Days of Thunder 2?
First, the original movie clearly means something to Cruise. It was his second and last film with the late Tony Scott, who went on to become one of the most exciting thriller directors of the ’90s and ’00s, especially with his various Denzel Washington vehicles. It’s also the rare movie with a Tom Cruise story credit! Cruise pitched the basic idea for the movie after being exposed to the NASCAR world, and he receives a shared “story by” credit on the original movie with legendary screenwriter Robert Towne, who wrote the film (and, more pertinently, Chinatown, Shampoo, and The Last Detail). Though the existence of a Days of Thunder follow-up does suggest a Hollywood legacy-sequel industry running on fumes, Cruise likely treasures the original, can’t stop thinking about that Top Gun: Maverick high, and probably loved Brad Pitt’s racing movie F1, which itself was kind of a Top Gun: Maverick knockoff.
What’s Days of Thunder 2 about?
A storyline hasn’t been formally revealed, but we know that Anne Hathaway is playing a team owner and engineer and will probably wear some kind of a cowboy hat at some point. For most sixtysomething actors, there would be a danger of Hathaway being cast as Cruise’s love interest, but Cruise seems, if anything, overly aware of his weird on-screen image as a romantic lead, so this seems more likely to be one of those later Mission: Impossible types of deals where any romantic feelings are subsumed into deep, abiding, suspiciously close but ultimately professional admiration.
Will Nicole Kidman appear in Days of Thunder 2?
Well, Kelly McGillis didn’t come back for Top Gun 2, but then again, Nicole Kidman remains a pretty major Hollywood star who works in tons of movies and TV shows every year. The greater obstacle is that Kidman and Cruise, while careful not to badmouth each other in public, are very divorced. Their children together, Bella and Connor, are Scientologists like their father, and though Kidman has remained mum on the religion post-divorce, it was cited as a major reason for their split. Moreover, Kidman and Cruise haven’t been seen together publicly in 25 years. Neither of them attended their daughter’s wedding. They clearly keep their distance.
On the other hand: It’s not impossible to picture Kidman putting in a surprise Days of Thunder 2 cameo, akin to a character from one superhero universe stepping briefly into another to please the fans. It probably won’t happen, but it can’t be ruled out entirely.
When is Days of Thunder 2 coming out?
Paramount has scheduled the movie for June 2, 2028. For those keeping track of the summer 2028 movie schedule, that’s a month after the X-Men reboot, a week after the Lilo & Stitch sorta-live-action sequel, and two weeks before Incredibles 3. (Disney calls a lot of dates in advance.) So June 9, 2028 is still available in case you have a big summer movie looking for a slot.
Is Days of Thunder on streaming? Where to watch the original Days of Thunder:
It sure is. The best way to stream it is probably Paramount+ where it will run ad-free (and feels thematically appropriate because it’s such a “Paramount in 1990” movie). But it’s also currently available on PlutoTV if you can handle the frequent ad breaks. It’s also available to rent or purchase digitally.
Stream Days of Thunder on Paramount+
Jesse Hassenger (@rockmarooned) is a writer living in Brooklyn. He’s a regular contributor to The A.V. Club, Polygon, and The Week, among others. He podcasts at www.sportsalcohol.com, too.
Stream Days of Thunder on Paramount+
