Tom Cruise is getting back behind the wheel again. There’s been talk of a sequel to 1990’s Days of Thunder since last summer’s F1: The Movie proved that an old dog can still learn some new tricks on the track…and earn over $600 million USD at the box office in the process. Now, it seems as if the green flag is waving for the high-speed sequel, and that Cruise will have one of 2026’s biggest movie stars in his pit crew.
Days of Thunder starred Cruise as Cole Trickle, a hotshot dirt track racer who’s recruited into NASCAR by team owner Tim Daland (Randy Quaid). With the help of crew chief Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall), Trickle soon becomes a rising star, developing a rivalry with reigning champ Rowdy Burns (Michael Rooker). However, the sparks fly off the track, as well, when Trickle falls for neurosurgeon Dr. Claire Lewicki (Nicole Kidman). Directed by the late Tony Scott, Days of Thunder was not as well-received as Top Gun, his prior collaboration with Cruise, but has become a favorite of motorsports fans.
In a post on Instagram, Cruise announced that Days of Thunder 2 will be released in the summer of 2028, and that it will co-star Anne Hathaway, who’s seen in the post wearing a cowboy hat and leaning against a race car with Cruise. Hathaway‘s been ubiquitous at the cinema this summer, reuniting with Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada 2, awaiting the return of Matt Damon in The Odyssey, and evading dinosaurs with Ewan McGregor in The End of Oak Street. Days of Thunder 2 will be directed by Jonathan Levine (Long Shot), from a script by Will Staples (Without Remorse); Cruise will produce with Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper.
Where Can Anne Hathaway Be Seen Next?
Hathaway isn’t finished her domination of the 2026 release calendar yet; in October, she’ll star in the erotic thriller Verity, a hotly anticipated Colleen Hoover adaptation that also stars Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. Next, she’ll star with Adam Driver and Betty Gilpin in Ron Howard‘s fact-based Afghanistan War drama Alone at Dawn; it wrapped earlier this year and is slated to be released in 2027.
Days of Thunder 2 will be released in 2028.
via Collider