{"id":178,"date":"2026-07-22T18:50:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=178"},"modified":"2026-07-22T18:51:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T21:51:42","slug":"days-of-thunder-gets-sequel-in-project-marking-tom-cruise-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/nascar\/days-of-thunder-gets-sequel-in-project-marking-tom-cruise-return\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Days of Thunder’ gets sequel in project marking Tom Cruise’s return"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following the box-office success of ‘F1’, motorsport remains firmly in Hollywood’s spotlight. The sequel to ‘Days of Thunder’\u2014the 1990 classic in which Tom Cruise stars as Cole Trickle, a hotheaded rookie chasing glory in NASCAR\u2014is officially in development. The American actor will also produce the feature alongside Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the original film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>. According to the publication, Jonathan Levine is in talks with Paramount to direct the film. Levine boasts a diverse resume, ranging from horror (‘All the Boys Love Mandy Lane’<\/em>) to comedy-drama (’50\/50′<\/em>). The outlet also reports that Cruise will turn his attention to the ‘Days of Thunder’ sequel immediately following his current commitments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The script, which remains under wraps, is being penned by Will Staples, whose credits include the Call of Duty<\/em> video game franchise and the action thriller ‘Without Remorse’<\/em>. However, it is confirmed that the film will focus on NASCAR, just like its predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much like ‘Top Gun’<\/em>, ‘Days of Thunder’ was directed by the late Tony Scott and starred Cruise in the lead role. Although it did not achieve the same massive commercial height as ‘Top Gun’<\/em>, the film became a cult classic among racing fans and to this day is considered one of the definitive cinematic portrayals of American stock car racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the 2009 Daytona 500, Tom Cruise posed alongside Rick Hendrick\u2014owner of Hendrick Motorsports\u2014with the No. 46 Chevrolet featured in ‘Days of Thunder’ (Photo: NASCAR)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the original plot, Cole Trickle is an open-wheel driver who transitions to NASCAR in search of glory. Armed with raw talent and a hot temper, he quickly runs afoul of veteran Rowdy Burns\u2014the character who inspired the nickname for Kyle Busch, the two-time champion and stock car legend who passed away in May\u2014setting off a fierce rivalry until an injury forces the veteran out of the cockpit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original film also featured cameo appearances by legendary NASCAR figures, including Richard Petty\u2014the winningest driver in the sport’s history, who also voiced ‘The King’ in ‘Cars’<\/em>\u2014alongside Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, and Harry Gant. Over the years, numerous teams have paid homage to the movie with throwback tribute liveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASCAR returns to action this Sunday for Round 22 of the 2026 season and the final event of the In-Season Challenge, set at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following the box-office success of ‘F1’, Hollywood is doubling down on motorsport: ‘Days of Thunder’, the 1990 film depicting NASCAR, is getting a sequel. Tom Cruise returns as lead character Cole Trickle and will also produce the feature film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020310300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise in 'Days of Thunder'. Sequel is already in production","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Nascar","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[97,99,98],"42wp_author":[55],"class_list":["post-178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-days-of-thunder","tag-nicole-kidman","tag-tom-cruise","42wp_author-caio-cavalcante"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178\/revisions\/187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020310300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}