Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski has revealed that they had to get special permission from the Navy for one of “the most extreme” stunts in the movie.
The first teaser clip of the highly-anticipated sequel to the 1986 classic featured Tom Cruise’s Maverick flying at a pretty low altitude in the desert, and Kosinski explained that they needed approval from some pretty high-level channels for that particular scene.
As director Joseph Kosinski explains to EW
For the sequence where Tom got to do some extreme low-altitude flying in this film, we had to get special permission from the Navy to do it. It was one of the most extreme aerial sequences that we could come up with. Also, getting to do a real launch off a carrier and a real landing on a carrier — no one else has been able to ever do that in a movie before. Tom got to fulfill every kind of aviation dream that he had.
In the same interview, the director also hinted that the sequel will explore how Maverick and Iceman’s (Val Kilmer) relationship has “evolved”.
“The rivalry and relationship between Iceman and Maverick is one of those things that makes that first film so iconic,” he said.
“It’s a relationship that is important to the Top Gun franchise and as a fan I would want to see how it’s evolved.”
Based on Joseph Kosinski’s comments, Top Gun: Maverick actually went looking for extreme aerial sequence ideas to put in the film, and extreme low altitude flying was what they hit upon.
Doing such things required military approval, one assumes because the lower you’re flying, the more likely you might come across civilian obstacles. The movie also filmed the actual launch and landing of the jets, which apparently had never been done before, marking a pair of first for Top Gun: Maverick.
The new film will see Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell paired with a group of young flyers. One of which is the son of Maverick’s former friend and Rio, Goose. Here is the list of New Top Gun Pilots: Rooster, Pheonix, Hangman, BOB, Fanboy & Payback.
Tom Cruise returns as Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, now a flight school instructor whose talents and exploits are a legend.
One of his students is Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), a pilot trainee and son of the late Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards).
A little more than two minutes long, the spot for the Paramount Pictures’ film is packed full of action and, of course, some motorcycle riding.
In addition to Cruise, the movie stars Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer, who reprises his memorable role of Ice Man.
Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters on June 26, 2020.
