Wait, Is Chris McQuarrie Doing Rewrite Work On TOP GUN 2?

Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie may have the best working relationship in all of modern blockbuster cinema (a partnership dating back to Valkyrie, which we explored here). Since the late aughts, the Usual Suspects Oscar winner was Cruise's go-to guy for big budget punch-up (Ghost Protocol), before McQuarrie graduated to writing, directing and producing for the superstar with the Jack Reacher series, Mission: Impossible: Rogue Nation, and this year's best multiplex thriller, Fallout. 

Well, it seems like that partnership is going to continue with the upcoming sequel to one of Cruise's most iconic films, Top Gun: Maverick. While recently speaking with Empire regarding all things Fallout-adjacent, Chris Hewitt joked about how many movies the two have made together, causing Cruise to drop this little nugget:

"[Fallout] is our ninth film together. Top Gun’s our tenth."

Interesting. While Cruise doesn't elaborate at all, this could be another case where McQuarrie comes in to do uncredited work and help smooth out some storytelling issues (though that's ultimately arbitration's job to decide). Maverick is currently in the middle of production right now, so this writer's guess is that it's simply workmanlike patchwork that probably won't be felt too much in the film's final form (though I admittedly could be wrong). 

Anyway,Top Gun: Maverick is due in theaters on June 26th, 2020. Guess we'll find out when the credits roll for the first time.