Making a sequel to the iconic film Top Gun was “daunting”, according to Tom Cruise.
Speaking to Sky, the Hollywood actor – who starred in the original Top Gun film as rogue fighter pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell – admitted that fan pressure had got to him when it came to making a follow-up.
“Taking on the sequel to Top Gun was a daunting task,” he explained.
“Fans all over the world – more than any other film for decades have been saying please do another one, and I was like – I don’t know how to do that.
“And I would go home and think about how to approach it, so to hear about how audiences feel about it… I’m so excited for them, I’m so happy about it, I’m relieved for them, you know.”
He went on to explain that the plot of this film was directly related to the events of the 1986 original.
"The foundation of the story that we have in this film originated back in 1986," Cruise explained.
"So the dynamic of that relationship we talked about back then was there originally."
Jennifer Connelly, who plays Maverick’s love interest Penny, added that the new film had a “great balance between old and new”.
"It’s surprisingly emotional, people that I talked to who see it say, ‘I was crying and I didn’t expect that’,” she said.
"I think it’s moving and also the flying what they’re able to do is completely on another level."
Top Gun: Maverick reportedly had more than a few bumps on its way to the big screen.
The film was delayed by nearly two years due to the pandemic, pushing its original release date of June 2020 back to May 24 this year.
Cruise also refused to debut the film on streaming platforms as opposed to in cinemas, telling an interviewer at Cannes Film Festival that it “was not going to happen, ever.”
“I make movies for the big screen,” he said, according to Variety, adding: “I’ve spent a lot of time with theatre owners”, and that he wanted to support them.
