Tom Cruise ‘Days Of Thunder’ Sequel Jonathan Levine In Talks to Direct

50/50 filmmaker Jonathan Levine is in talks to direct Paramount Tom Cruise Days of Thunder sequel.

This is the first major sign of the highly anticipated project moving forward with the Melrose lot after producer Jerry Bruckheimer spoke about a follow-up to the NASCAR movie during the F1 press tour (that car movie an enormous hit, the biggest sports movie ever with over $634M WW). Also there was news about Tom Cruise being in talks with Paramount on a sequel two years ago. Will Staples wrote the screenplay. Cruise will produce with Bruckheimer.

As everyone knows, the last time Paramount ignited a classic Cruise property in Top Gun: Maverick, it became the actor’s and the studio’s highest grossing movie ever at $1.5 billion worldwide.

Levine recently directed Paramount’s Mr. Irrelevant with is hitting theaters on Christmas Day. That pic tells the inspiring, heart-felt, and true story of John Tuggle, the “Mr. Irrelevant” of the 1983 draft, the last player chosen in the last round, by the New York Giants, and his enduring impact on his team and teammates. Levine also directed the movies Warm Bodies and Longshot.

Days of Thunder, directed by the late Tony Scott, was released during the summer of 1990 and made $82.6M domestic, $157.9M worldwide. Curise played Cole Trickle in the Robert Towne written pic, a hot-headed rookie stock car driver who joins NASCAR and must overcome personal and professional challenges to achieve success. The film also saw him be introduced to Nicole Kidman, who became his wife of 11 years, and who went onto to star with him on Ron Howard’s Far and Away and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. Cruise conceived the story for the movie which was produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Cary Elwes, Caroline Williams, and Michael Rooker also starred in the original movie.