Paramount Pictures has scheduled the Days of Thunder sequel for June 2, 2028, with Tom Cruise reprising his role as driver Cole Trickle and Anne Hathaway joining as a team owner and engineer. Jonathan Levine will direct the feature, which will be filmed for IMAX.
Nearly forty years after the original high-speed stock car drama hit theaters, Tom Cruise is stepping back behind the wheel. The Days of Thunder follow-up was officially confirmed on a Saturday morning in August 2026, when Cruise shared the news ahead of NASCAR’s race at Daytona International Speedway.
The announcement verified months of industry rumors that Paramount Pictures was fast-tracking a sequel to the 1990 Tony Scott-directed hit. Alongside the title character’s return, the production secured Academy Award-winning actress Anne Hathaway as his co-star, pairing the two A-listers on a NASCAR track. Cruise revealed the news on Saturday on his social platforms featuring a picture of the two A-listers leaning against a NASCAR race car in Daytona, with Cruise, 64, announcing via Instagram on Saturday, August 29, beside a photo of the action star posing beside pregnant Anne Hathaway, 43, in front of a neon-green race car at Daytona International Speedway. In a follow-up upload, Cruise revealed that Hathaway will be his new costar in the film, quoting him saying, I think it’s on. Annie? It looks ‘on’ to me, don’t you think? Shooting won’t happen right away, with the pregnant Hathaway quipping in the announcement video, I'm gonna have this baby, then we're gonna make this movie.
The car bears the Cole Trickle namerail — the name of Cruise’s character in the first film — and says Days of Thunder
and “Summer 2028” on the side of it, splashed with green and yellow indicating a bit of an homage to the Mello Yello paint scheme that Trickle’s car raced with in the original movie.
The Production Team and Release Timeline Set for Summer 2028
Paramount Pictures has staked out a summer 2028 release date for the project, targeting June 2, 2028, when Cruise and Hathaway will hit the road almost 40 years after the original Tony Scott film was released. The project will be shot for IMAX screens, and released exclusively in theaters for formats including Dolby Cinema, 4DX, and premium large-screen formats.
Jonathan Levine (“Long Shot,” “Mr. Irrelevant”, “50/50”) is confirmed to direct from a screenplay penned by Will Staples, whose credits include video games such as Call of Duty 3: Modern Warfare and co-writing the Michael B. Jordan action movie Without Remorse, as THR exclusively reported in July. Cruise is producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the original Days of Thunder, and Tommy Harper.
Character Details and Plot Setup for Cole Trickle’s Return
While specific plot details are scarce and under wraps, Cruise will return as the scrappy driver Cole Trickle, reprising the role from his 1990 hit racing pic. Hathaway is set to play a racecar team owner and engineer in the follow-up, getting behind the wheel—or at least helping build what’s under the hood—for Tom Cruise’s long-developing sequel.
In the original, Cruise’s Trickle got recruited to a new NASCAR team by a retired racing legend played by Robert Duvall. The first film also starred Nicole Kidman and was a reunion for Cruise with his Top Gun director, Tony Scott, being considered one of the actor’s most memorable roles.
NASCAR Involvement and Potential Driver Cameos
Decades after the release of Days of Thunder
in 1990, a sequel is on its way, with lead star Tom Cruise sharing the official news on Saturday afternoon ahead of NASCAR’s race at Daytona. For the second Days of Thunder
movie, NASCAR appears to be heavily involved once again.
The first film featured a collection of real NASCAR figures, including Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett and Harry Gant.
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