Director Jonathan Levine (50/50, Warm Bodies) is reportedly in talks to helm the long-awaited follow up to 1990 racing action-drama Days of Thunder, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Star Tom Cruise is aboard to reprise his role as NASCAR driver and Daytona 500 champ Cole Trickle, and is producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer. Bruckheimer produced the original Days of Thunder in partnership with Don Simpson, who died in 1996.
The Hollywood Reporter notes Days of Thunder 2 is intended to be Cruise’s next production.
No further details are available in terms of the planned story for the sequel, or how it picks up from the original, but a script has been written by screenwriter and author Will Staples. Staples wrote the game Call of Duty 3: Modern Warfare alongside Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby, Crash) and Michael B. Jordan’s Without Remorse alongside Taylor Sheridan (Sicario, Yellowstone). His association with Cruise may date back to a rewrite of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation he was hired to tackle in 2014.
Days of Thunder is a fondly-remembered racing classic, which reteamed Cruise with late director Tony Scott following their work together on 1986’s Top Gun. Its stacked cast includes the late Robert Duvall, as well as Nicole Kidman, Michael Rooker, John C. Reilly, Cary Elwes, and Randy Quaid. It also features a fabulous score from legendary composer Hans Zimmer.
It’s been well over three decades since it hit cinemas but, in the wake of the success of the F1 movie (plus Cruise’s own legacy sequel triumph with Top Gun: Maverick), it certainly feels like the right time to get back on track.
Days of Thunder 2 is not the only sequel Cruise has on his plate, either; in April, 2026 Paramount confirmed the much-discussed sequel to Top Gun: Maverick was locked in and officially underway.
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.
