Days of Thunder 2 might be within reach, folks.
The Friday of the new F1 movie’s opening weekend also marked the 35th anniversary of the release of Days of Thunder.
On top of that, Tom Cruise posted a series of images from the film’s production on several social media accounts that same day, congratulating F1 and Days of Thunder producer Jerry Bruckheimer on the release of the latest racing film to hit theaters.
F1 blew the rest of the box office away on opening weekend with over $57 million and has already cleared its purported $200 million – $300 million budget worldwide, so it’s definitely putting asses in seats.
And Bruckheimer himself dropped a soundbite that things could be in motion for Days of Thunder to get a sequel.
In 1986, Tony Scott (the badass dude on the set photo’s left, above) directed Top Gun and in 1990 he helmed Days of Thunder, which was for-better-or-for-worse referred to as “Top Gun on wheels.”
Joseph Kosinski just did a similar thing with Top Gun: Maverick and F1, so who’s to say he can’t dial up a NASCAR movie, too?
I’m only half joking, because I don’t know if Kosinski would immediately do another racing movie, but he’s the easy choice.
Let’s compare the two timelines a little bit.
When Days of Thunder came out, Cruise was riding an immense wave of popularity exiting the 1980s after doing Risky Business, The Outsiders, The Color of Money, Rain Man and Born on the Fourth of July (not to mention Top Gun). He was a central focal point of the zeitgeist at the time.
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Over the next couple of decades, it’s not like he fell out of public focus at all: he was doing Mission: Impossible movies; dramatic turns like Eyes Wide Shut, Magnolia and Jerry Maguire (the latter two of which he earned Oscar nominations for); working with other acclaimed directors on projects like Collateral and twice with Steven Spielberg; and even doing some fun roles, like Tropic Thunder.
But I think he’s re-entered the level of popularity he was at at the tail end of the 1980s. Not that he was ever a name you didn’t hear about in Hollywood, but with the love that Mission: Impossibles 5 through 8 have gotten, his dedication to his craft and the insane stunts he does, he’s genuinely one of the last — if not the last — true movie stars we have left from that era.
Jeff Gordon also wants it to happen.
Technology has evolved, as we saw with the way F1 was shot with on-board cameras and the Sony 6K IMAX cameras positioned on the bodies and halos of the cars.
I’d argue that NASCAR provides even more opportunities to set up cameras on, in and around the cars. There’s more stable surface area than the angular curves of Formula 1 machines, you can fit plenty inside the cars and there’s a whole crop of great, young actors who could round out a phenomenal cast.
Now, will a sequel look as good as the original?
No. Nobody can replicate the impeccable color palette that Scott employed in his movies.
But we can get close.
Hell, between Sinners, 28 Years Later, The Phoenician Scheme and Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, 2025 has had some of the best-looking movies in the last few years.
I’d also love it if they brought some sponsors back in. If Gordon’s on board, I figure Rick Hendrick would be, so City Chevrolet wouldn’t be a tall order to put back on a car (as long as they do the green-and-white No. 46 again). Exxon’s still around, and so is its associated brand SuperFlo.
Mello Yello is still in the coolers at Wawa or wherever fine soft drinks are sold near you. Hardee’s is still around, and so is Cary Elwes — and he was just in Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning with Cruise.
Michael Rooker, John C. Reilly and Nicole Kidman are still plugging away in their respective careers. Robert Duvall’s still hanging around. The cast is still out there! Let’s do this!
Jerry, Tom, everyone involved — bring on Days of Thunder 2. I’ll be there night one, and I really hope you guys do some filming at Richmond Raceway.
Adam Cheek joined Frontstretch as a contributing writer in January 2019. A 2020 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, he covered sports there and later spent a year and a half as a sports host on 910 the Fan in Richmond, VA. He's freelanced for Richmond Magazine and the Richmond Times-Dispatch and also hosts the Adam Cheek's Sports Week podcast. Adam has followed racing since the age of three, inheriting the passion from his grandfather, who raced in amateur events up and down the East Coast in the 1950s.