It’s happening.
Days of Thunder 2 is finally getting underway, and I couldn’t be more excited. One of my buddies and I have very differing opinions on the first movie, and while I initially didn’t love it on first watch a dozen years ago, it’s absolutely grown on me over time with every watch; I’ve probably seen it almost 10 times now.
Sure, it’s over the top and very similar to Top Gun in a lot of respects (Top Gun was released four years earlier, was also directed by Tony Scott and also starred Tom Cruise), but it’s fun in its own right and an absolutely gorgeous movie. Some of the shots are just drop-dead spectacular.
Now the sequel is finally on the horizon, formally announced by Cruise the weekend of the summer race at Daytona International Speedway in late August. Cruise was on hand for the race as well, along with producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Anne Hathaway was announced as Cruise’s co-star, continuing her “queen of cinema” year, and Jonathan Levine has been tabbed as director.
So for those unfamiliar, I’ll start with the director. Levine might not be a household name, but he’s directed a couple comedies I revisit every year and has been active for nearly 20 years. He helmed The Night Before, one of the most underrated Christmas comedies; it stars Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie as three friends reuniting for one last night of their traditional Christmas Eve shenanigans before settling down with their lives. It’s genuinely one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.
He also directed 50/50, which was written by Will Reiser. Reiser based it on his own experience with spinal cancer; Gordon-Levitt stars as Adam, who is diagnosed with the same, and the drama-comedy navigates the difficult adjustments he has to make with his life and facing his own mortality. Rogen co-stars, along with Anna Kendrick and Bryce Dallas Howard. I’ve seen that movie a ton of times (it has a way of making you appreciate life) and always end up watching the last 20 or so minutes through a veil of tears.
Levine has also taken the reins of the films Warm Bodies, Long Shot and the upcoming John Tuggle football biopic Mr. Irrelevant, which stars David Corenswet of 2025’s Superman. So while this is probably the biggest-budget, most action-packed project he’s taken on, I feel pretty good about what he can do as director.
Cruise needs no introduction, but I’m glad to see him continuing the legacy of his films a la what he and director Joseph Kosinski did with Top Gun: Maverick a few years ago (which I saw five times in theaters, three of those in IMAX). Cruise just finished off the Mission: Impossible franchise last year, too, and he’s getting tons of Oscar buzz for his role in the satirical Digger coming out this week, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman, The Revenant, etc).
Hathaway also needs no introduction, though she’s in one of the most prominent years of her career. She plays Queen Penelope in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey alongside an ensemble cast and is the best performance in a spectacular movie. She also reunited with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt for The Devil Wears Prada 2; I unashamedly love the first one and thought the second one was just as great. This year has also featured Hathaway playing a pop star in Mother Mary; a mother thrown into a fight for her and her family’s lives against dinosaurs in The End of Oak Street; and an author in Verity, which comes out later this year.
The 2026 cinematic year has rightfully earned Hathaway the title of the “queen of cinema” over the past few months, and she’s easily one of the most talented, likable actresses working today, so I’m excited to see her added to the cast of Days of Thunder 2. Her year got even better because the New York Knicks finally won an NBA championship, and she told Jimmy Fallon she even has an OG Anunoby jersey. So, she knows ball.
Finally, Bruckheimer worked with Scott beyond Days of Thunder, producing Crimson Tide and Enemy of the State. He also produced everything from The Rock and Con Air to the Pirates of the Caribbean and National Treasure movies, along with a ton of television shows. The dude is a legend.
Everything is firing on all cylinders for Days of Thunder 2 to be really solid, even if it mostly appeals to a very niche audience. Then again, Cruise has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity over the past several years, since many view him as one of the last true movie stars and as someone who’s truly helping keep movies alive.
He’s a big believer in the cinematic experience and frequently posts about seeing some new release or another on the big screen, complete with a photo of him posing with his movie ticket. Hathaway has a huge fanbase as a legend in her own right.
It’s interesting that the promo shot for the movie has the Next Gen car. Not that I thought they’d revert to another era of stock car for the movie, but it makes me wonder how that car will look on the big screen and in those action scenes. But hey, that City Chevrolet scheme is back, so I can’t complain.
There’s more that’s yet to be answered. What drivers will have cameos? We asked some of them their thoughts during that Daytona race weekend, but more likely they will warm up to the idea. Who doesn’t want to be in a movie, especially one with Cruise?
I hope to be able to do some reporting centered around the movie’s production as things unfold and hope to do some press for it via Zoom interviews and such near its release. We’ll see what happens, but I’ve never wanted to manifest anything more than this.
As Cruise says in the trailer for his upcoming movie Digger: “Let’s. F**king. Go.”
I can’t wait.
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.
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