Cruise Parks the No. 46 Back on the Big Screen for 2028

Thirty-eight years after the original racing drama, Tom Cruise is returning as stock car driver Cole Trickle. Paramount Pictures has dated the sequel for June 2, 2028, and Cruise unveiled the first look at Daytona International Speedway ahead of NASCAR's regular-season finale. The photo shows a Cup car in the familiar green-and-yellow No. 46 paint scheme, with 'Days of Thunder Summer 2028' across the side panel.

Anne Hathaway is joining the cast. According to Variety, she will play a race team owner and engineer. Hathaway is expecting her second child later this year and joked in a social media video with Cruise that production will begin after she has the baby.

Jonathan Levine is attached to direct, with Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper producing. The film will be shot for IMAX screens. Beyond Hathaway's reported role, little is known about the plot.

Behind the Casting and IMAX Bet for the Sequel

Paramount's IMAX scheduling targets a summer event film

A June 2028 release and IMAX production signal that Paramount is positioning the sequel as a premium summer blockbuster rather than a modest nostalgia play. The timing places it early in the summer movie season, where Cruise's stunt-driven reputation and the original film's cult following can be converted into large-format ticket sales.

Hathaway's reported role rebalances the franchise

Casting Hathaway as a team owner and engineer would move the story beyond the original's driver-focused arc and give the sequel a credible technical and business figure inside the race team. That role, as reported by Variety, creates a different on-screen dynamic with Cruise while modernizing how the franchise represents NASCAR team leadership.

Why Daytona is more than a photo backdrop

The announcement was timed to NASCAR's regular-season finale at Daytona, pairing the film's first image with one of the sport's highest-visibility weekends. That placement suggests mutual promotional value: the studio gets direct access to a core racing audience, while NASCAR benefits from a major Hollywood production carrying stock car imagery into global marketing.