Mission: Impossible helmer says Top Gun 3 will be just as "emotional" as the first two movies, as he "already knows" what it will entail

Talk to me, Christopher McQuarrie. Top Gun 3 has had a rather exciting update from Top Gun: Maverick producer McQuarrie, who says the upcoming threequel's story has already been cracked.

"It’s already in the bag. I already know what it is," said McQuarrie on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, after being asked if Top Gun 3 is "harder to crack" than Top Gun: Maverick. "It wasn't hard. I thought it would be, and that's a good place to go from."

Despite not being involved with the original 1986 movie, McQuarrie co-wrote Top Gun: Maverick with Ehren Kruger, and it sounds as though the duo will reunite on the third movie. "Krueger pitched something and we had one conversation about it, and the framework is there," added McQuarrie. "So no, it's not hard to crack."

McQuarrie kept his cards pretty close to his chest in terms of what exactly Top Gun 3 will entail, but promises it will encapsulate the emotion of the first two movies. "As you start to execute it... you start [to think] why these movies are made the way they are," said the filmmaker. "It’s not the action, it’s not even the level of or intensity of or the scope and scale of the action… It’s none of those things. It’s the emotion."

The writer continued that the franchise’s emotion comes from the relationships between Tom Cruise’s Maverick and his antagonists. "His relationship with Iceman, as much as Iceman was antagonizing Maverick, he was cool, and he was a better pilot, and he was right about everything that he was saying. You want to see them be friends." However, Iceman star Val Kilmer sadly passed away earlier this year, leaving a huge hole in the franchise. So, recreating that special relationship will not be easy.

Despite the story seemingly moving along, Top Gun 3 has yet to land a confirmed director. Although Top Gun was directed by Tony Scott, and Joseph Kosinski helmed Maverick, McQuarrie was asked if he would step into a director role for the threequel. "I have given that absolutely no thought, no thought whatsoever, said McQuarrie. "However, I have done a lot of research into how to make a Tony Scott movie."

If McQuarrie did step in to direct the upcoming sequel, it would be just one of many of the filmmaker’s team-ups with Cruise. The duo has worked together as director and actor on many projects, including the most recent and final Mission: Impossible addition, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

Top Gun 3 does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies and 2025 movie release dates you need to know about.