Just a few days in the past, The Hollywood Reporter revealed a narrative saying that along with creating one other “High Gun” sequel, Hollywood celebrity Tom Cruise is “exploring a follow-up” to “Days of Thunder,” the 1990 racing film he starred in for director Tony Scott. At a look, you’ll be able to see how that call may make sense: 2022’s “High Gun: Maverick,” one other decades-later sequel to a Cruise-Scott collaboration, was a big field workplace hit, so naturally Cruise is desirous about revisiting his previous characters, like NASCAR driver Cole Trickle, to see if there’s any extra gold to mine from them. At the moment, there are not any writers, administrators, or different stars connected, so that is very a lot a “Cruise needs to do it” kind of story, and there is nothing set in stone fairly but.
However there are a number of causes a “Days of Thunder” sequel could not make a ton of sense in 2025 or past. First, the unique film wasn’t almost as beloved as the unique “High Gun.” Generations of audiences have been asking for a “High Gun” sequel for many years, and that very same pleasure is solely not there for a “Days of Thunder” follow-up. “Days of Thunder” had a terrific supporting solid (together with Nicole Kidman, Randy Quaid, Robert Duvall, and Michael Rooker, amongst others), but it surely didn’t produce a personality as memorable as Val Kilmer’s Iceman from “High Gun,” so even when they lured a few of these actors again to the display screen for “Days of Thunder: Cole Trickle” (or no matter it finally ends up being referred to as), seeing these actors reprise these roles wouldn’t have the identical impact as seeing Kilmer and Cruise share the display screen once more.
Even setting all of that apart, there’s one more reason this sequel looks like a nasty thought.
Days of Thunder 2 will not have novelty on its facet
In 1990, it was nonetheless comparatively novel for an motion film to be set on the planet of NASCAR and provides the viewers a peek behind the scenes at how drivers practice and race. In 2024, that novelty has lengthy vanished. Cruise, an actor who’s famously dedicated to offering as immersive a big-screen expertise as potential for world audiences, would love the thought of “Days of Thunder 2” placing the viewers in a car with him, exhibiting off that he was doing his personal driving, and translating that visceral sense of velocity from the speedway to theaters in all places. The issue, after all, is that audiences have already seen that on Netflix’s “Components 1: Drive to Survive” and in current films like James Mangold’s “Ford v Ferrari,” Neill Blomkamp’s “Gran Turismo,” and Michael Mann’s “Ferrari.”
Crucially, there’s one film that has the potential to suck the momentum out of “Days of Thunder 2” earlier than it even will get going: “F1,” the ultra-expensive new racing movie starring Brad Pitt that is popping out subsequent summer time and is directed by “High Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski. As you’ll be able to see within the teaser trailer for that movie, Kosinski may be very a lot utilizing the “Maverick” methodology to make us really feel the necessity for velocity, so I am unable to assist however really feel that one other “Days of Thunder” may pale as compared. And as a distinguished NASCAR driver as soon as informed us, “In the event you ain’t first, you are final.”
I spoke a bit about this on immediately’s episode of the /Movie Every day podcast, which you’ll be able to take heed to beneath:
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