Tom Cruise Announces Days of Thunder Sequel Starring Anne Hathaway for 2028

Tom Cruise is heading back to the racetrack. The actor made the surprise announcement for the sequel to Days of Thunder directly from the Daytona International Speedway on the weekend of the NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400.

Behind the Announcement Video and the 2028 Release Date

Paramount Pictures has established a firm release date of June 2, 2028, for the upcoming dramatic feature. To mark the announcement, Cruise and his new co-star Anne Hathaway filmed a promotional video on location at Daytona. Cruise already celebrated the casting announcement with a promotional photograph taken directly from the NASCAR racing track.

Tom Cruise, actor, noted that he thought it was turned on and asked if Anne was there.

When Cruise fumbled with the camera and asked what to do next, Hathaway offered a characteristically direct reply in the promo clip. Studio plans dictate that the movie will receive a theatrical rollout specifically optimized for premium formats such as IMAX, Dolby Cinema, and 4DX, keeping alive the big-screen spectacle that characterized Cruise’s recent box-office runs. Paramount Pictures is preparing the sequel to the racing drama Days of Thunder, in which Tom Cruise returns to his famous role as automobile racer Cole Trickle after nearly four decades.

Anne Hathaway, actor, asked what they should do now, adding that she would have a baby and then they would shoot the film.

Behind the Camera and On the Track: Jonathan Levine Takes the Reins

While Tony Scott directed the original 1990 film, Paramount has tapped Jonathan Levine to direct the sequel. Levine brings a diverse directing background to the project, having previously helmed romantic comedies like Srážka s láskou and 50/50, along with the sports drama Mr. Irrelevant starring David Corenswer. His other known works include the romantic comedy Srážka s láskou and the action comedy Dámská jízda. Production duties for the sequel are shared by Cruise alongside producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper.

Days of Thunder Sequel Set for 2028 With Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway

Details regarding the plot remain tightly guarded by the studio, with creators keeping quiet on whether Cole Trickle will head back onto the track as a driver, a mentor, or a man who must face his own demons once again. However, initial character information confirms that Hathaway will step into the role of a stable owner and technical expert who participates in the construction and preparation of racing cars. For Cruise, this represents another return to a successful franchise following the gradual winding down of the Mission: Impossible series, alongside plans for another film from the world of Top Gun. Anne Hathaway, meanwhile, is experiencing an exceptionally busy period, appearing in several anticipated films in 2026 including Mother Mary, Ďábel nosí Pradu 2, Odyssea, and Konec Oak Street.

Looking Back at the 1990 Original and Franchise Connections

The original Days of Thunder followed Cole Trickle, an ambitious and hot-headed young driver brought into the NASCAR world by veteran mechanic Harry Hogge, played by Robert Duvall. Trickle possessed extraordinary talent and speed, while simultaneously battling a hot head, dangerous competition, and the aftermath of a serious accident. After enduring a severe crash, Trickle relied on doctor Claire Lewicki—portrayed by American-Australian actress Nicole Kidman—to recover both his physical health and his desire to live.

That 1990 production famously marked the setting where Cruise and Kidman first met, fell in love, and subsequently married later that year in 1990, before their marriage fell apart in 2001. Reporting notes that Kidman’s character will not return for the upcoming sequel. The project mirrors Cruise’s broader strategy of revisiting defining cinematic properties, following the success of the first film directed by the late Tony Scott in 1990, much like how the first part of Top Gun also originated from the workshop of the deceased Scott and received a successful sequel years later.