Fans of the movie Days of Thunder have been waiting since 1990 for a follow-up to the film that starred Tom Cruise as a hotshot NASCAR driver with dreams of making it big, only to have those very dreams dashed by a brutal accident. It featured an all-star cast, with huge names like Nicole Kidman, John C. Reilly, Carey Elwes, and Michael Rooker. And while it debuted to mixed reviews in 1990, that didn’t stop it from building a devoted cult following that has long waited for their favorite movie to jump on the reboot bandwagon.
And it seems the fandom’s patience has been rewarded; there’s big news worth celebrating for those fans who have been holding out this whole time. The sequel’s release date is finally set: Days of Thunder 2 hits theaters on June 2nd, 2028—38 years after the original premiered. Some other great news? It’s set to star Anne Hathaway alongside the returning Cruise (just as soon as she has her baby, of course). It’s also worth noting that Days of Thunder 2 is set to be Cruise’s next project, getting all of his attention (and likely a crazy number of stunts).
Days of Thunder. Summer 2028. pic.twitter.com/rD3QLXfUyi
Cruise will obviously be reprising his role as the aforementioned hotshot NASCAR driver, Cole Trickle. And he’ll be joined this time by Anne Hathaway, with Jonathan Lavine set to direct. Plot details are still few and far between, but it’s been reported by Variety that Hathaway will be playing an engineer and team owner, further proving that the actor is very much in a career renaissance, coming off of other blockbuster films like The Odyssey, The Devil Wears Prada 2, and The End of Oak Street.
Days of Thunder failed to impress critics back in its heyday, but managed to do better with casual viewers, eventually becoming a beloved cult classic. The film centers on racing newbie Cole Trickle and the rivalry that develops between him and veteran driver Rowdy Burns (Rooker). The two are involved in a potentially career-ending accident during a race and, through the healing process, develop a deep, enduring friendship. As he falls for Dr. Claire Lewicki (Kidman), and Burns finds himself still too injured to race, Trickle decides he has to race Rowdy’s car in the Daytona 500, where he finds himself up against a shady newcomer named Russ Wheeler (Elwes).
Obviously, things will have changed for Trickle in the nearly 40 years between the first movie and the sequel, and who knows what kind of craziness he’ll find himself involved in as he either joins forces with or goes up against Hathaway as a team owner. It’s also unknown who, if anyone, from the original cast will be joining the production. But no matter what, it seems to be shaping up to be an explosive good time.
