Tom Cruise's one phone call to Paramount sparked the sequel for Top Gun: Maverick, according to Jerry Bruckheimer.
After the Tony Scott and Tom Cruise-led film became 1986's biggest international hit with $357 million, the renowned producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, behind the original Top Gun struggled to get a sequel off the ground. But the making of the movie never started and all the attention was diverted to other movie projects.
Jerry Bruckheimer and Tony Scott recommitted to the project about 20 years later, until Scott's terrible death in 2012. While production slowed down, Bruckheimer was still committed to making the sequel, and in 2017, the stars aligned when Cruise's "Oblivion" director, Joseph Kosinski, impressed everyone with his pitch for Top Gun: Maverick.
The Hollywood Reporter quotes Bruckheimer as saying, “Joe [Kosinski] had a look book, a poster, and the title, Top Gun: Maverick, and then he told Tom the journey of the character and the story he wanted to tell. Tom then looked at him, pulled out his phone, and called the head of Paramount at that time and said, ‘I want to make another Top Gun.’ And that was it."
You can watch the trailer for Top Gun: Maverick here.