Tom Cruise is getting back behind the wheel. The actor confirmed Days of Thunder 2 over the weekend with an Instagram post announcing that Anne Hathaway has joined him in the long-awaited racing sequel, more than three decades after the 1990 original hit theaters.
The announcement photo shows Cruise and Hathaway together beside a race car, with Hathaway wearing a cowboy hat in a nod to the film’s stock-car racing world. Cruise will reprise his role as driver Cole Trickle, while Hathaway steps into a new role as a race team owner and engineer.
How the Announcement Came Together
Variety was first to report the casting news on Saturday, August 29, shortly before Cruise shared the announcement himself on social media. The timing lines up with a strong year for racing movies at the box office, following F1: The Movie‘s run past $600 million worldwide earlier in 2026, a result widely seen as reigniting studio interest in big-budget motorsport films.
Who’s Making Days of Thunder 2
50/50 and The Night Before director Jonathan Levine is set to direct the sequel from a script by Will Staples. Cruise produces alongside longtime collaborator Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper, reuniting much of the creative DNA that powered the original film and Cruise’s more recent racing and aviation hits.
Paramount Pictures is producing, continuing its long partnership with both Cruise and Bruckheimer, who first teamed up on the original Days of Thunder in 1990 alongside director Tony Scott.
Anne Hathaway’s Role, Explained
Rather than stepping into a legacy role from the first film, Hathaway is joining as a new character entirely: a race team owner and engineer whose expertise puts her at the center of the sequel’s racing operation alongside Cole Trickle. It’s a meaningfully different type of part than the love-interest role Nicole Kidman played in the original as neurosurgeon Dr. Claire Lewicki, suggesting the sequel is building its own dynamic rather than simply retreading the 1990 film’s central relationship.
The casting also continues a strong stretch for Hathaway, who has kept a steady presence in major studio releases and awards-season films alike in recent years, making her an attention-grabbing addition to one of Cruise’s most anticipated upcoming projects.
Looking Back at the Original Days of Thunder
The 1990 Days of Thunder followed Cole Trickle, a talented dirt-track racer recruited into NASCAR by team owner Tim Daland, played by Randy Quaid, with Robert Duvall as veteran crew chief Harry Hogge. While it didn’t match the box office heights of Cruise and Scott’s Top Gun from four years earlier, the film built a lasting following among motorsports fans and remains a touchstone of Cruise’s early run of action vehicles.
Part of that staying power came from how the film was shot: Days of Thunder leaned heavily on real racetrack footage and practical camera rigs rather than the green-screen work that would come to dominate studio racing films decades later, giving it a tactile, grounded feel that fans still point to as ahead of its time.
Release Date and Format Details
Days of Thunder 2 is set for a summer 2028 theatrical release, giving the production a lengthy runway that suggests an emphasis on practical racing sequences over rushed post-production. Given Cruise’s well-documented preference for real stunt work over visual effects on his recent Mission: Impossible and Top Gun: Maverick projects, expectations are already building for another round of genuinely high-speed, camera-forward racing footage rather than CGI-heavy spectacle.
What Fans Should Expect
With Levine directing, Bruckheimer producing, and Cruise both starring and producing, Days of Thunder 2 is shaping up as a passion project built on the same partnership that defined the original. Hathaway’s addition as a team owner and engineer, rather than a returning legacy character, hints that the sequel intends to expand the Days of Thunder world rather than simply revisit it, while still leaning on the nostalgia of Cruise back on the track more than 35 years after he first played Cole Trickle.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Days of Thunder 2 release?
Days of Thunder 2 is set for a summer 2028 theatrical release.
Who stars in Days of Thunder 2?
Tom Cruise returns as Cole Trickle, joined by Anne Hathaway in a new role as a race team owner and engineer.
Who is directing Days of Thunder 2?
Jonathan Levine is directing from a script by Will Staples, with Tom Cruise producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper.
Is Days of Thunder 2 connected to the 1990 original?
Yes, Cruise reprises his original role as driver Cole Trickle, though Anne Hathaway’s character is a new addition rather than a returning role from the first film.
Days of Thunder 2 adds another entry to Tom Cruise’s long box office track record, and comes as Anne Hathaway continues a busy 2026 that also included her red carpet appearance at The End of Oak Street premiere.
