There’s a pitch only Hollywood could drive straight-faced and not crash: What if Cole Trickle and Sonny Hayes—their glory days behind them, egos barely dented—met again, off the track and into the air-conditioned nightmares of every studio accountant praying for the next “Top Gun: Maverick”?
Joseph Kosinski, you beautiful madman. The guy who just parachuted Cruise back into the box-office stratosphere with “Maverick”—that billion-dollar midlife adrenaline shot—wants to do it all over again. But with more tire smoke, bigger egos, and two of the planet’s most box-office-tested men in one roaring, nostalgia-fueled pit stop.
Let’s get it straight: This isn’t fan-fiction fever. Kosinski confirmed to GQ that his dream project would stitch Tom Cruise’s “Days of Thunder” persona—Cole Trickle, hotshot NASCAR legend—into the same cinematic universe as Brad Pitt‘s Sonny Hayes, the battered Formula 1 veteran about to debut in Apple and Paramount’s “F1.” For once, this isn’t a rival studio’s fevered wish list… it’s a conversation happening inside the creative bunker. “We find out that he and Sonny Hayes have a past. They were rivals at some point, maybe crossed paths…” Kosinski mused, barely hiding the glee of anyone who’s ever watched Cruise and Pitt circle each other like coiled snakes in a blockbuster’s third act.
Pause. Breathe. Now think—what does this actually mean? Cruise, reportedly locked for a “Days of Thunder” sequel (yes, that’s officially in development), stepping into Trickle’s boots again, while Pitt’s “F1,” a $40–$50 million tracking beast, preps for its own weekend rollout. Paramount, burned by the easy wins of “Maverick,” must see “Days of Thunder”—let’s call it “Top Gun on Wheels” (they do)—as the next logical resurrection.
Is it smart branding? Of course, it is. Maybe even cynical? Sure—but honestly, I’m in. The idea of a “Legacy Sequel Extended Universe” almost feels laughable, until you remember this is Hollywood’s favorite magic trick: mush together recognizable faces and IP, then floor the pedal on nostalgia until you black out. And yet… damn, it feels like it could work.
It helps—let me rephrase, it supercharges the whole thing—that this time there’s actual character lore at play. Not just poster fodder. Trickle vs. Hayes isn’t just a gasoline-soaked brand exercise. It’s NASCAR versus Formula 1, American bravado versus European elegance. Or, more honestly: Cruise’s chip-on-the-shoulder loner, racing for redemption, against Pitt’s cultivated world-weariness. The film writes itself—or at least, ya hope it does.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast, but box office eats both for lunch. Brad Pitt once said he’d team up with Cruise again “as long as he doesn’t have to hang off an airplane.” (We all remember that “Mission: Impossible” stunt, right?) At this point, odds are Cruise’s contract requires at least one airborne scene, even if it’s in a stock car doing 230 mph backwards.
But I digress. “F1” lands this weekend, its opening box fresh and wild—a rare big-bet original in a summer crowded with IP reboots and haunted franchises. If Pitt’s film breaks the speedometer, this crossover becomes less a what-if and more a red-meat inevitability. Studios don’t just want hits. They need myth—a reason to give us sequels that feel, oh, a little less dead.
So, what are we staring at? Nostalgia weaponized. But also—perhaps—the modern studio business at its brass-tacks best: Pair your legends, lean on their history, and pray audiences want to feel that jolt of recognition just one more time.
Would it be art? Probably not. Would I watch it twice? Don’t make me lie.
