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Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway to Star in 'Days of Thunder' Sequel, Set for 2028 Release

Tom Cruise has confirmed a sequel to the 1990 film 'Days of Thunder', set for release on June 2, 2028, with Anne Hathaway in a starring role. The film will be directed by Jonathan Levine, with Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Tommy Harper producing. Paramount Pictures has dated the sequel, which will be shot for IMAX screens.

By Tertius News AI Desk 3 distinct · 3 mastheads · 3 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 29–30, 2026 Published 1h ago

Sequel Announcement and Release Date

Tom Cruise is set to reprise his role as Cole Trickle in a sequel to the 1990 film "Days of Thunder," with Anne Hathaway co-starring. Paramount Pictures has dated the film for release on June 2, 2028, as reported by Variety. Cruise shared the news himself on social media, according to USA Today, posting a photo of him and Hathaway standing beside a stock car at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. The car, bearing the Cole Trickle namerail, also displayed "Days of Thunder" and "Summer 2028," with green and yellow colors paying homage to the original Mello Yello paint scheme.

Hathaway will play a racecar team owner and engineer, according to three of the reports. The sequel will be shot for IMAX screens and released exclusively in theaters for formats including Dolby Cinema and 4DX, as reported by Variety and echoed by com.

Cast and Crew

Jonathan Levine, known for directing "Long Shot" and "Mr. Irrelevant," is confirmed to direct, according to Variety and com. Cruise is producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper. Will Staples is the screenwriter, per USA Today, with Levine and Staples attending the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in July.

The original film, directed by Tony Scott, featured Nicole Kidman as Dr. Claire Lewicki, Robert Duvall as Harry Hogge, Michael Rooker as Rowdy Burns, and Randy Quaid as Tim Daland, along with John C. Reilly in a role. Cameos in the original included Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, and Harry Gant. The 1990 movie centered on Cruise's Trickle as a hotshot young racer climbing the NASCAR ranks and battling for the Daytona 500.

Context and Reactions

Cruise was present at Daytona International Speedway for the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale and spoke at the pre-race driver's meeting on Saturday night, according to com. The news of the sequel comes after the success of "F1," starring Brad Pitt and also produced by Bruckheimer, which grossed over $600 million, as that outlet noted. NASCAR legend Kyle Busch, who spoke with a film writer on the project before his passing in May, had a nickname "Rowdy," a callback to Rooker's character, according to the same report.

Current drivers were already expressing enthusiasm. "That will be something that is huge, truthfully, for the sport in general," driver Chase Briscoe said last month, as reported by USA Today. "I'm very interested to see the filming process. Tom Cruise does all of his own stunts, so is he going to be ripping that thing at Daytona...? I'm excited for that piece of it." Ryan Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion, shared that the writers "feel good about the direction" and that Cruise "seems excited," according to the same report.

Cruise has previously returned to a classic with "Top Gun: Maverick" in 2022, which was nominated for six Academy Awards and grossed 5 billion globally, as noted by USA Today. The sequel marks the first significant IP for Cruise after winding down the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, with additional projects including another "Top Gun" film and an Alejandro González Iñárritu directed "Digger," as Variety reported.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

motorsport.com

Framing: Announcement of the sequel and its release date, starring Cruise and Hathaway. — celebratory and nostalgic

as of Aug 30, 2026, 1:31 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Tom Cruise announces a sequel to 'Days of Thunder' for a 2028 release, co-starring Anne Hathaway.
Cruise will reprise his role as Cole Trickle.
Hathaway will play a team owner and engineer.
The sequel will be directed by Jonathan Levine, known for 'Long Shot' and 'Mr. Irrelevant.'
Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer will produce alongside Tommy Harper.
Cruise was at Daytona International Speedway for the NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale and spoke at the pre-race driver's meeting on Saturday night.
The original film remains culturally relevant to NASCAR fans.
Jenson Button credited the original film for fostering his love of NASCAR.
NASCAR legend Kyle Busch spoke with a film writer before his tragic passing in May.
Busch's nickname 'Rowdy' was a callback to Michael Rooker's character from the original film.
Discussions for the sequel heated up after the success of 'F1', starring Brad Pitt, which made over $600 million.

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USA Today

Framing: Announces the casting of Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway in the 'Days of Thunder' sequel.

as of Aug 29, 2026, 8:31 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway are set to star in a sequel to 'Days of Thunder'.
The sequel is dated for release on June 2, 2028.
Cruise will reprise his role as Cole Trickle; Hathaway will play a team owner and engineer.
Jonathan Levine will direct the film; Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper will produce.
Will Staples is the screenwriter.
The original 1990 film was directed by Tony Scott and featured Hans Zimmer's score.
The original film starred Nicole Kidman as Dr. Claire Lewicki, Robert Duvall as Harry Hogge, Michael Rooker as Rowdy Burns, and Randy Quaid as Tim Daland.
The original film featured cameos from Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, and Harry Gant.
Ryan Blaney, the 2023 Cup Series champion, has acting credits including 'Cars 3' and 'Logan Lucky'.
Blaney expressed excitement about the sequel, saying the writers feel good about the direction and that Cruise seems excited.
Cruise previously revisited a hit movie with 'Top Gun: Maverick' in 2022, which was nominated for six Academy Awards and grossed $1.5 billion worldwide.
James Mangold's 'Ford v. Ferrari' (2019) won two Academy Awards and made $225.5 million worldwide.

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Variety

Framing: Announces the casting of Anne Hathaway opposite Tom Cruise in a sequel to a classic racing film. — neutral and informative

as of Aug 29, 2026, 6:01 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Anne Hathaway will star opposite Tom Cruise in the next chapter of “Days of Thunder,” Variety has learned exclusively.
Paramount Pictures has dated the feature film sequel for June 2, 2028.
The project will be shot for IMAX screens, and released exclusively in theaters for formats including Dolby Cinema and 4DX.
Cruise released a promotional image on Saturday celebrating Hathaway’s casting and posing with his co-lead on a NASCAR track.
Cruise will reprise his role as the scrappy driver Cole Trickle.
Plot details are scarce, but Hathaway is set to play a racecar team owner and engineer.
Jonathan Levine (“Long Shot,” “Mr. Irrelevant”) is confirmed to direct.
Cruise is producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper.
In the original, Cruise’s Trickle gets recruited to a new NASCAR team by a retired racing legend (Robert Duvall).
The first film also starred Nicole Kidman, Randy Quaid and John C. Reilly.
Hathaway has been on a tear in 2026, with four films in theaters including “Mother Mary,” “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” “The Odyssey” and “The End of Oak Street.”
The expecting movie star will close out the year with the Coleen Hoover adaptation “Verity.”
She’s just wrapped production on the Adam Driver military drama “Alone at Dawn,” and is working on a three-quel to her star-making Disney movie “The Princess Diaries.”
Hathaway is represented by CAA, Entertainment 360 and Apex Public Relations.
The ”Days of Thunder” follow-up is the first significant piece of IP that Cruise will engage with after ramping down the “Mission: Impossible” franchise.
He’s also on the hook for another “Top Gun” movie, and will return to the prestige drama space with this year’s Alejandro González Iñárritu film “Digger.”

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What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimAnne Hathaway will star opposite Tom Cruise in the next chapter of “Days of Thunder,” which has learned exclusively that Paramount Pictures has dated the sequel for June 2, 2028.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Variety as of Aug 29, 2026, 6:01 PM UTC
ClaimParamount Pictures has dated the 'Days of Thunder' sequel for June 2, 2028.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Variety as of Aug 29, 2026, 6:01 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

3 distinct · 3 mastheads · 3 articles consulted: motorsport.com, USA Today, Variety 2 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-30