One of the best aspects of the classic “Top Gun” is the visual style of the movie, which is thanks to legendary filmmaker Tony Scott. Sadly, Scott passed away well before they made “Top Gun: Maverick.” But according to Tony Scott’s famous directing brother, Ridley, the folks behind ‘Maverick’ were interested in keeping it in the family. 

READ MORE: ‘Gladiator II’ Review: Paul Mescal Gives A Mostly Worthy Fight In Sequel That’s Timelier Than It Seems 

Speaking in a recent interview with THR, where he talked about his career and the upcoming film, “Gladiator II,” Ridley Scott also talked about an offer he received to direct “Top Gun: Maverick.” According to the filmmaker, they approached him as a potential director of the blockbuster film, but Ridley turned it down because he didn’t want to follow his brother. 

Continue reading Ridley Scott Turned Down ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Because He “Didn’t Want To Follow” His Late Brother at The Playlist.

Glen Powell is now officially a Hollywood leading man, and he has a secondary role to partially thank for that: his memorable turn as Hangman in 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick.” So when will Hangman return to the skies? The actor is playing mum, but he’ll at least confirm he has “a date” for when “Top Gun 3” starts shooting.

READ MORE: ‘Top Gun 3’: Paramount Has Had A Sequel In Development Since Last Fall

EW reports (via the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast) that the “Twisters” star confirmed he’s received a state date for filming of the sequel in a new interview with co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Continue reading ‘Top Gun 3’: Glen Powell Confirms He Has “A Date” For When Paramount’s Sequel Starts Shooting at The Playlist.

In today’s episode of Bingeworthy, our TV and streaming podcast host Mike DeAngelo attempts to sail through murky waters when discussing “Shogun.” The FX/Hulu series is based on the beloved book of the same name and is set in 17th-century Japan. It follows multiple characters in a struggle for power and freedom after a British vessel is found stranded in a small fishing village, leading to political unrest and potential war.

Continue reading ‘Shogun’: Justin Marks, Rachel Kondo, & Hiroyuki Sanada Discuss Their Epic Miniseries, ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ ‘Mortal Kombat’ & More [Bingeworthy Podcast] at The Playlist.

Thanks to his breakout role as The King in “Elvis,” Austin Butler is one of Hollywood’s current leading “it” men. And it comes with little doubt that Butler’s dedicated performance as Elvis Presley cemented him in that position. But Variety reports (via People) that Butler’s road to stardom could have been very different if he had made another choice a couple of years before “Elvis.”

READ MORE: ‘The Bikeriders’: Focus Features Sets Summer 2024 Release For Gang Drama Starring Austin Butler, Jodie Comer & Tom Hardy

While on the podcast to promote his new Apple TV+ series “Masters Of The Air,” Butler confirmed the story that he nearly starred opposite Tom Cruise in 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick.” But one thing kept him from landing the part: agreeing to work with Quentin Tarantino on “Once Upon A Time …In Hollywood.” “I ended up having to choose between going to the screen test for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ or saying yes to Quentin Tarantino,” Butler said on an upcoming episodes of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.

Continue reading Austin Butler Confirms He Screen Tested For ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ But Chose ‘Once Upon A Time …In Hollywood’ Instead at The Playlist.

The story of “Ford Vs. Ferrari” is so long and winding. At one point, Christian Bale was going to star in Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” movie with Adam Driver, but he eventually left to star in “Ford vs. Ferrari,” with Mann’s blessing, of course. The film was ultimately made by James Mangold and released in 2019. But there were versions of it before that.

Continue reading Joseph Kosinski Talks ‘Go Like Hell’ Which Almost Starred Tom Cruise & Brad Pitt & His Upcoming F1 Racing Movie at The Playlist.

Isn’t this curious? Just days after Tom Cruise signed a film deal with Warner Bros., THR reports that Paramount has a sequel to “Top Gun: Maverick” in the works. That comes as a surprise after the fallout of Cruise’s new deal, with sources saying that the relationship between the actor and the studio he’s made five of his last seven films with had reached a boiling point.

Continue reading ‘Top Gun 3’: Paramount Has Had Sequel In Development Since Last Fall at The Playlist.

Ridley Scott may have sung the praises of Fede Alvarez‘s upcoming sequel “Alien: Romulus,” but he doesn’t feel the same about “Top Gun: Maverick.” JoBlo reports that at the recent DGA Latino Summit, Alvarez said Scott was unimpressed with the sequel to his brother Tony Scott‘s 1986 original. In Scott’s words: “My brother’s was original and this is like eh.”  

READ MORE: Ridley Scott Says He Has A “Fantastic” 270-Minute Director’s Cut Of ‘Napoleon’ That Focuses More On Vanessa Kirby’s Josephine

Alvarez brought up the anecdote when speaking about how tough Scott is on follow-ups to his films, which is something the director was afraid of regarding his “Alien” sequel.

Continue reading Fede Alvarez Says Ridley Scott Didn’t Like ‘Top Gun: Maverick’: “My Brother’s Was Original And This Is Like Eh” at The Playlist.

Timothée Chalamet alert for all the Timmy C fans out there. “Dune: Part Two” is not coming out this fall as initially planned—it’s been kicked into 2024—but that doesn’t mean the planned GQ profile on him isn’t releasing as planned. He is on their cover this month, release dates be damned, they had an issue to get out, and while Warner Bros. surely must have wanted the press around March 15, 2024, the show must go on.

Continue reading Timothée Chalamet Calls ’Top Gun Maverick’ One Of “The Greatest Films I’ve Ever Seen” & Shares Tom Cruise Advice at The Playlist.

Fresh off the record-breaking (and potentially Oscar-minted) success of “Top Gun: Maverick,” its megawatt producer and star Tom Cruise is back with a shiny new sequel to his other most iconic franchise. 

READ MORE: Christopher McQuarrie Downplays Report Of Tom Cruise Exiting After ‘Mission: Impossible 8’

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” on our list of The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2023, was first announced back in February as the first of a two-feature story arc that will serve as the epic send-off to the character of Ethan Hunt, which Cruise has played in six films over 25 years.

Continue reading ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ Trailer: Tom Cruise May Never Stop Saving the World at The Playlist.

British actor Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”) is no stranger to studio blockbusters playing a young version of Beast in the popular “X-Men” franchise and had a standout but one-off role in George Miller’s acclaimed “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Hoult, doing press rounds to promote “Renfield,” is now speaking to The Guardian (via Variety) about his recent run of high-profile acting opportunities that he’s missed out on.

Continue reading Nicholas Hoult Talks Losing ‘The Batman’ Lead Alongside Roles In ‘Top Gun’ & ‘Mission: Impossible’ Sequels at The Playlist.

The American Cinema Editors handed out their annual ACE Awards on Sunday as the chilly final leg of the 2023 awards season draws to a close. Hosted by Ashley Nicole Black, the afternoon saw the editors or editing teams from “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Andor” take home major prizes.

READ MORE: Complete list of 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards winners

Other winners included “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” “The Bear,” “Fire of Love,” “George Carlin’s American Dream,” “The Black Lady Sketch Show” and “Weird: The Weird Al Yankovic Story.”

Lifetime Achievement honors were bestowed upon Don Zimmerman.

Continue reading ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ And ‘Andor’ Triumph At 2023 ACE Eddie Awards at The Playlist.

The theatrical industry is in shambles. There are really no two ways to say it. Ticket prices are going up (and AMC is trying to milk every last cent out of customers) and the only movies that are making any sort of big money are blockbusters like Marvel films and other franchise fare. So, to say that “Top Gun: Maverick” has somehow “saved” the industry because it’s another franchise film that earned a lot of money at cinemas is a bit… dubious.

Continue reading Steven Spielberg Congratulates Tom Cruise For Saving “The Entire Theatrical Industry” With ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ at The Playlist.

The ADG had its say and now the American Society of Cinematographers is the latest artisan organization to announce its year-end honors. The 37th ASC Awards will find Roger Deakins (“Empire of Light”), Greig Fraser (“The Batman”), Darius Khondji (“Bardo”), Claudio Miranda (“Top Gun: Maverick”), and Mandy Walker (“Elvis”) vying for the theatrical feature film honor.

Continue reading ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ ‘Elvis’ & ‘House of Dragon’ Among 2023 ASC Nominees at The Playlist.

Slow and steady wins the race, especially if you’re James Cameron and the world always seems to be skeptical about your chances. It’s been said never to bet against Cameron. Still, pundits were doing just that in the first-week opening of “Avatar: The Way Of Water,” when it opened to $134 million domestically, far less than the early $170 million projections. Box Office watchers and armchair film analysts quickly said Cameron and the “Avatar” franchise were in trouble.

Continue reading ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Beats Out ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ As The #1 Grossing Film Of 2022 Worldwide at The Playlist.

Hollywood is on edge. There have been corporate layoffs, with fears of more to come after January 1. Peak TV appears to be over (more on that later), and there are rumblings of the first strike-affected work stoppage in 16 years. But if we review the biggest entertainment stories of 2022, there are signs of hope and happier returns, especially in the movie business.

READ MORE: The Playlist’s Guilty Pleasures Of 2022

Globally, the movie industry justifiably lost the Russian market due to the Ukraine War, but India’s market is growing, and China has shown glimmers of allowing more American releases moving forward.

Continue reading The Biggest Entertainment Stories Of 2022 & What’s Next at The Playlist.

Music! It is the beating soul beneath a film’s imagery, visuals, and performance. And one of the things we love most about writing about the Best Scores & Soundtracks of the year, in this case, 2022, is how it just makes us understand a film all over again on a deeper, more intuitive-level, especially when you’re just listening to a score or soundtrack on its own, without the context of a movie, and it’s just communicating so much to you.

Continue reading The Best Scores & Soundtracks Of 2022 at The Playlist.

No other film caused as big a sensation this year as “Top Gun: Maverick.” No other movie made as much money either, with Joseph Kosinski‘s film making $1.478 billion at the worldwide box office. Time will tell if James Cameron‘s “Avatar: The Way Of Water” overtakes “Maverick” on both fronts, but there’s one thing that film won’t do: it won’t be the National Board Of Review‘s Best Film of 2022.

Continue reading National Board Of Review Names ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Its Best Film Of 2022 at The Playlist.

2022 was a generous year for movie lovers: a new Sight and Sound list was released to stir the pot about the greatest 100 films of all time; film festivals around the world returned to in-person experiences; even the whimsical gibberish from Nicole Kidman and AMC Theaters about going to see a movie gave us something to bond over as things adjusted to a strange but safer normal. 

READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2023

It was a year of cinematic memoirs, with Steven Spielberg, Alejandro G.

Continue reading The 25 Best Films Of 2022 at The Playlist.

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on-demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalogue titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This twice-monthly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

This week’s three-weeks-in-the-making rundown of the picks to click on the New Release page include the highest-grossing movie of 2022, a Santa slasher from 1984, and everything in between.

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ ‘Pearl,’ ‘In The Mood For Love,’ & More at The Playlist.

Over the past few months, there have been rumblings. At Cannes, one studio executive remarked that this Oscar season was going to be a “strange” one. In July, another industry executive described the quality of the fall festival offerings as “unusual” (and that wasn’t meant positively). Now, with three of the four major festivals almost completed, their warnings have been right on target. With just two films truly emerging as potential Best Picture nominees from this year’s fall fests, “The Fablemans” and “The Banshees of Inisherin,” this may be the Oscars the sequels, yes, the sequels take the reigns.

Continue reading The Year Of Best Picture Sequels…Maybe [Contender Countdown] at The Playlist.

Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures are still doing strong business at the box office with “Top Gun: Maverick.” being The biggest earner to date for both Cruise and Paramount, the action blockbuster sequel has made over $1.3 billion globally. The pic did all it could do to impress naysayers, critics, and the general audience to become one of the most entertaining films in a long time. Well, the unique experience many of us felt watching Cruise put the flight jacket back on was shared by a well-respected director who is usually critical of studio efforts.

Continue reading Tarantino Praises ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ & Says It’s The Closest We’ll Ever Get To Another Tony Scott Film at The Playlist.

For years now, Reese Witherspoon has been trying to throw her star power behind “Legally Blonde 3,” in an attempt to bring that sequel to life. After two well-received, financially successful “Legally Blonde” films, it seemed as if a third feature would happen in fairly short order. However, that hasn’t been the case. Now, years later, Witherspoon is still actively trying to make it a reality, but she’s looking at Tom Cruise’s recent ‘Top Gun’ success as inspiration for taking her time and making sure it’s just right.

Continue reading Reese Witherspoon Says ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Is Inspiring How She Handles ‘Legally Blonde 3’ at The Playlist.

When you consider the filmography of Tom Cruise versus Mickey Rourke, there’s no denying that the former has experienced way more blockbuster success than the latter, especially over the last decade or more. However, Rourke doesn’t believe that makes Tom Cruise a better actor than him. In fact, Rourke believes Cruise is “irrelevant.” 

While appearing on Piers Morgan’s TalkTV show (via Metro), Mickey Rourke was asked about Tom Cruise.

Continue reading Mickey Rourke Calls Tom Cruise “Irrelevant” As An Actor For Always Playing The “Same Part” at The Playlist.

When it was announced, fans saw “Top Gun: Maverick” and wondered, “Why?” Did we really need a sequel more than 30 years after the first film? Well, since the release of ‘Maverick,’ the answer is a resounding “Yes!” Now, there is a whole new generation of fans wondering if we’re going to get a “Top Gun 3?” And ‘Maverick’ star, Miles Teller, is here to tease that he’s already talked to Tom Cruise about jumping back into the pilot’s seat. 

Continue reading ‘Top Gun 3’: Miles Teller Says He’s Had “Some Conversations” With Tom Cruise About A New Sequel at The Playlist.

If you are a regular moviegoer chances are you’ve already seen one of 2023’s Best Picture nominees. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and, quite surprisingly, “Top Gun: Maverick” are deep in the mix for the 10 picture field. As always, however, the fall festival season looks like it will bring a deluge of legitimate contenders in a manner we haven’t seen since before the pandemic. In previous years, it would be disheartening so many distributors held their “best” for the fall, but considering the last two Oscars seasons, we’ll gladly take it.

Continue reading Halfway To Oscars 2023: A State Of The Race at The Playlist.