Following yesterday's major casting news, Deadline has now learned that Paramount is adding some additional star power to Tom Cruise's long-awaited action sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, casting Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Ed Harris (Westworld), and Lewis Pullman (Bad Times at the El Royale) in key roles.
The trio join a Cruise-led cast that will also feature Val Kilmer (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Jennifer Connelly (Only The Brave), Miles Teller (Whiplash), Glen Powell (Set It Up), Monica Barbaro (Splitting Up Together), Charles Parnell (A Million Little Pieces), Jay Ellis (Insecure), Bashir Salahuddin (GLOW), and Danny Ramirez (Assassination Nation).
The report notes that up-and-comer Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), who had been set to play Connelly's daughter, bowed out of the project earlier today due to a scheduling conflict.
Joe Kosinski (Oblivion; Only The Brave; Tron: Legacy) is directing with a script from Peter Craig (The Town), Justin Marks (The Jungle Book), and Eric Warren Singer (American Hustle). Jerry Bruckheimer is back on board as a producer alongside Cruise and David Ellison.
While production began at the beginning of June with Cruise filming scenes on a very familiar motorcycle, principal photography is not expected to begin with the entire cast until early next month. Plot details remain under wraps for now, but the film will reportedly be set in a world of drone technology and fifth generation fighters and will also explore the end of the era of dogfighting.
Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters July 12, 2019