'Top Gun: Maverick' Features "Mind-Blowing" Aerial Footage, Says Jon Hamm

After more than thirty years, Tom Cruise is feeling the need for speed...again. Paramount Pictures' Top Gun: Maverick will see the superstar reprise his role of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in a theatrical sequel, and in addition to his old pal "Iceman" (Val Kilmer), this time he'll be joined by big-screen veterans like Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris and a whole crop of younger actors to boot.

One of Cruise's new co-stars, Jon Hamm, recently gave an update about some of the Top Gun 2 footage he's seen, which he called "mind-blowing." 

In an interview with Collider, Hamm revealed that he's seen some of the footage already and he's incredibly impressed with it:

"I've seen some of the footage, it is out of this world...They're using some technology on this that is never before seen. We're shooting the movie in, I think, 6K. So it's incredibly hi-def. The aerial footage is mind-blowing. And it's mostly practical. There's not a lot of CG. Those guys are really up in planes and getting thrown around in multiple Gs."

Hamm also mentioned that they're shooting on many of the same sets as the original 1986 movie, that this sequel uses "a lot of the same costumes" as the first one, and that this installment captures a similar vibe while also taking the story to new places:

"It's basically getting the whole team back together. Unfortunately, [original director] Tony Scott is unavailable, but they've achieved a very similar vibe to the first one. I think it's gonna be, for the people who love the first movie I think it's gonna be very interesting to watch. It very much takes the story in a different direction. But I think for the new fans it's gonna be something very cool, too."

Scott took his own life in 2012, but thankfully we'll always be able to enjoy his films (and his commentaries). He was originally planning to return to the director's chair for Top Gun 2, but after Scott's death, Cruise enlisted his Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski to fill that position. Kosinski has a great visual eye, but he hasn't yet worked on a movie with a script that's up to snuff (sorry, Tron: Legacy lovers). Hopefully Top Gun: Maverick will break that pattern.

The sequel will feature the return of some familiar faces, but largely appears to focus on a younger generation of Navy pilots – some of whom have some terrific call signs like "Lardo" and "Warlock." Miles Teller plays the son of Maverick's old wingman Goose and Jennifer Connelly plays a single mother who runs a bar near the Navy base. We don't know who Hamm or Ed Harris play yet, but they'll all be joined by Manny Jacinto, Glen Powell, Thomasin McKenzie, Charles Parnell, Jay Ellis, Bashir Salahuddin, Danny Ramirez, and Monica Barbaro.

Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters on June 26, 2020.