Tom Cruise Announces “Days of Thunder” Sequel Will Also Star Anne Hathaway, Marking Their First Time Working Together

Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway will star in a Days of Thunder sequel

Cruise reprises his role as NASCAR driver Cole Trickle, while Hathaway plays a team owner and engineer

The film, directed by Jonathan Levine, is set for IMAX release on June 2, 2028

Tom Cruise is revving up the engines for another sequel, this time with Anne Hathaway 's help.

Hathaway and Cruise will star in a new Days of Thunder film, Paramount Pictures and both stars announced on Saturday, Aug. 29.

Cruise will once again play NASCAR driver Cole Trickle, with Hathaway playing a team owner and engineer. The Top Gun: Maverick star is also producing with Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper.

Jonathan Levine is set to direct. His previous credits include Warm Bodies , 50/50 and Long Shot . He will direct from a script by Will Staples, who wrote the upcoming Chris Pratt drama Way of the Warrior Kid .

The new Days of Thunder will be filmed for IMAX and is scheduled to hit theaters on June 2, 2028.

Paramount also released a photo of Cruise, 64, and Hathaway, 43, together at Daytona International Speedway, leaning against a green racecar. Cruise and Hathaway also published a video on their social media pages to announce the project.

The original Days of Thunder was directed by Tony Scott and starred Cruise as a young racecar driver enlisted by a NASCAR team owner ( Randy Quaid ) to drive for him. Released in 1990, it also catapulted Nicole Kidman to international stardom and was her first on-screen pairing with Cruise.

Cruise, Paramount and Bruckheimer previously teamed up on a legacy sequel for 2022's Top Gun: Maverick , released 36 years after the original film. That movie earned over $1.5 billion and earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination. Cruise's partnership with Paramount also includes the Mission: Impossible franchise.

His next movie, Digger , a collaboration with filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu , opens on Oct. 2.

This year has been one of the busiest in Hathaway's career. The Oscar winner has already starred in four movies released in 2026 – Mother Mary , The Devil Wears Prada 2 , The Odyssey and The End of Oak Street . Her fifth, Verity , opens on Oct. 2. She also stars in Ron Howard 's upcoming Alone at Dawn .

Hathaway is also set to work on The Princess Diaries 3 for Disney.