Bruckheimer said Top Gun 2 would update the world of aviation to reflect modern realities, with Cruise positioned as an old-school pilot fighting to prove that man will always triumph over machine.

"The concept is, basically: are the pilots obsolete because of drones? Cruise is going to show them that they're not obsolete. They're here to stay," Bruckheimer told the Huffington Post. He said the sequel was moving closer to reality despite a 28-year gap since the late Tony Scott's original movie hit cinemas.

"We've been trying to get that movie made for 30 years, and I think we're getting closer and closer," said Bruckheimer. "Don [Simpson, fellow producer] and I tried to develop something; we didn't succeed. Cruise took over, and he tried to develop something, and he didn't succeed. Now we're back at it."