{"id":873416,"date":"2026-08-30T04:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T04:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/873416\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T04:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T04:00:12","slug":"tom-cruise-to-star-in-days-of-thunder-sequel-to-arrive-in-cinemas-in-2028","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/873416\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Cruise to star in Days of Thunder sequel to arrive in cinemas in 2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Long<\/p>\n

August 30, 2026 \u2014 11:14am<\/p>\n

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Tom Cruise has revealed that he will star in a sequel to Days of Thunder 38 years after the debut of his motor-racing movie in 1990.<\/p>\n

The sequel, due to hit cinemas in 2028, will also star Anne Hathaway as a team owner and engineer in the world of NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing).<\/p>\n

\"TomTom Cruise attends the drivers meeting before a race at Daytona last week.Chris Graythen\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The 64-year-old Cruise announced the project at Daytona International Speedway in Florida on Saturday, making a characteristically flamboyant entry in front of 40 race-car drivers, jumping over a row of potted plants and directly onto a stage.<\/p>\n

Cruise will reprise the role of NASCAR driver Cole Trickle, loosely based on the late NASCAR driver Tim Richmond, in the new film, which will be written by Will Staples and directed by Jonathan Levine, with Cruise producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about racing,\u201d Cruise told a packed room that included NASCAR executives, fans, corporate sponsors and military personnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about the community and the people here. There\u2019s something very special about racers and the whole community. It\u2019s a culture, and I was very proud to be able to reflect that in the first Days of Thunder, and I am honoured to share it with the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s basically what we\u2019re going to really go for with this one. Give the audience that opportunity to understand what it is as a team, as a community, what it is for NASCAR, and the speed, the excitement and all that danger and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CruiseCruise as driver Cole Trickle in the 1990 film.Stephen Vaughan<\/p>\n

The Hollywood Reporter reported in November 2024 that Cruise had talked to Paramount about a follow-up to his racing film, which was critically panned on its release and largely lampooned throughout the NASCAR industry for its exaggeration and overindulgence.<\/p>\n

But it has since become a cult favourite in NASCAR circles, and is still quoted by race fans to this day.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Nicole<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cRubbin\u2019, son, is racin\u2019\u201d \u2013 the immortal line from crew chief Harry Hogge, played by Robert Duvall \u2013 still lives on.<\/p>\n

Riding high from his Top Gun fame and having grown up racing cars on the \u201cback streets of Kentucky\u201d, Cruise had an idea for a movie based on fast cars and the characters who raced them. And so began the making of Days of Thunder.<\/p>\n

The movie introduced NASCAR to a wider audience that had very limited exposure to stock-car racing before that summer. There had been racing movies before \u2013 Thunder Road, Grand Prix, Stroker Ace or even Smokey and the Bandit \u2013 but none that had depicted NASCAR in such a mainstream style.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely that Cruise will handle many of his own stunts, as he did in the original.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast time I was at this track, actually, I was on the back straight, and I was shooting with two very heavy cameras travelling \u2013 I don\u2019t know, 180 miles an hour \u2013 and suddenly the hood was off of the car,\u201d Cruise recalled on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sun is setting and I\u2019m trying to get all my lines out before we lost the light. And, suddenly, the whole car was in flames. It turned from a barbecue to a bonfire on the back straight. Couldn\u2019t even get the crew to come in and help me just because radio (communications) didn\u2019t work in the back straight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear that\u2019s still possible, correct,\u201d he asked the rapt audience. \u201cYou guys didn\u2019t fix that. Well, that\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n

AP<\/p>\n

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