More than three decades after Days of Thunder turned Tom Cruise into NASCAR driver Cole Trickle, Paramount is officially bringing the racing drama back. Cruise will reprise the role in a sequel scheduled for theatrical release on June 2, 2028.
Anne Hathaway has joined Cruise as a co-lead. Reporting from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and AP says Hathaway will play a racing team owner and engineer, giving the sequel a new central character rather than simply rebuilding the 1990 film around nostalgia.
Cruise also confirmed the project publicly in a video with Hathaway at Daytona International Speedway, teasing a summer 2028 arrival. Plot details remain under wraps, so anything beyond the confirmed casting and racing setting should still be treated as unknown.
Jonathan Levine is set to direct from a script by Will Staples. Cruise will produce alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper, reconnecting the sequel with one of the original film’s key producers.
The project is also being positioned as a premium theatrical release, with reporting pointing to IMAX and other large-format presentation. That fits Cruise’s recent push toward movies designed around the cinema experience rather than streaming-first launches.
For fans, the biggest story is simple: Days of Thunder is no longer just a legacy-sequel rumor. It has a co-star, a director, a release date and a clear path back to theaters.
