--- title: 'Randy Quaid Turns ''Days of Thunder 2'' Into a Fight Over Anne Hathaway' type: 'blog post' section: 'Industry' format: 'Editorial feature' standfirst: 'USA Today reported that Quaid called Hathaway a "horrible choice" and pushed Tom Cruise to bring Nicole Kidman back instead. The argument says less about the sequel''s actual setup than about how quickly a new casting can get flattened into old romance talk.' author: 'CinePixo' published: '2026-09-01' updated: '2026-09-01' about_people: - 'Anne Hathaway' - 'Randy Quaid' about_films: - 'Days of Thunder (1990)' tags: - 'Randy Quaid Anne Hathaway Days of Thunder 2' - 'Days of Thunder sequel cast Anne Hathaway' - 'Tom Cruise Nicole Kidman reunion sequel' - 'Randy Quaid Anne Hathaway comments on X' - 'Days of Thunder 2 release date June 2028' sources: - 'https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/randy-quaid-blasts-days-of-thunder-sequel-says-anne-hathaway-isn-t-sexy-enough/ar-AA2big0p' - 'https://uk.news.yahoo.com/horrible-choice-randy-quaid-blasts-093400092.html' - 'https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2026/08/31/randy-quaid-anne-hathaway-isnt-sexy-tom-cruise-sequel/91549149007/' - 'https://www.queen.gr/culture/kinhmatografos/story/320497/i-anne-hathaway-sto-days-of-thunder-2-kai-o-randy-quaid-ti-thelei-ektos-gia-tous-lathos-logous' - 'https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/maga-star-explodes-at-horrible-choice-for-tom-cruise-movie-sequel/' canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/blog/randy-quaid-turns-days-of-thunder-2-into-a-fight-over-anne-hathaway' publisher: 'CinePixo' --- # Randy Quaid Turns 'Days of Thunder 2' Into a Fight Over Anne Hathaway *USA Today reported that Quaid called Hathaway a "horrible choice" and pushed Tom Cruise to bring Nicole Kidman back instead. The argument says less about the sequel's actual setup than about how quickly a new casting can get flattened into old romance talk.* By CinePixo, 2026-09-01 · Industry Randy Quaid spent the last weekend of August turning the new Days of Thunder sequel into a gripe about Anne Hathaway. USA Today reported on Aug. 31, 2026 that Quaid called Hathaway a "horrible choice" on X and argued that Tom Cruise should bring Nicole Kidman back instead. For film readers, the point is not the insult itself. It is that the sequel announced on Aug. 29 already has Hathaway in a new role, yet the loudest reaction keeps treating her like a replacement for Kidman rather than the character she actually plays. ## Quaid's X posts shove the sequel off its track According to USA Today, Quaid wrote, "We need Nicole back" and "Anne isn't sexy" after the sequel news landed. He also called Hathaway a "leftist, woke" choice and tied the film to a MAGA audience. The Daily Beast added that Quaid later posted a clip claiming he had been cast in the sequel, then kept going with more attacks on Hathaway. That is a strange way to talk about a racing movie, but it is also a familiar one. A sequel gets announced, the actual plot is still thin, and somebody decides the important question is which familiar face should be restored to keep the old memory intact. Quaid made that instinct loud, ugly, and very public. ![Randy Randall Rudy Quaid Is Randy Quaids Birth Name](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/7aefd086-3e56-47e7-8b15-ce67f5bf75ee.webp) *Photo: Eliza George Matter · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Randy_Quaid_Birth_Name.jpg)* ## Hathaway is not playing Kidman's old part The cleaner reading comes from the casting itself. USA Today reported that Hathaway will play a racing team owner and engineer. Cruise returns as Cole Trickle, the original film's driver, and nothing in the reporting says Hathaway is there as the sequel's love interest. That distinction matters. Quaid's complaint only works if you flatten every woman in the frame into the same function. The actual setup is different. Hathaway is being placed inside the racing world with authority and technical knowledge, not handed the old Claire Lewicki part because the sequel needs a woman beside Cruise. The announcement video made that clear in a small, useful way. Cruise and Hathaway appeared together at Daytona International Speedway to tease the film, and Hathaway joked, "I'm gonna have this baby and we're gonna make this movie." USA Today also reported that the film is due June 2, 2028 and is being shot for IMAX. That is the real movie on the table, not the fantasy version Quaid decided to argue with. ![Anne Hathaway at the NYC Premiere of "The Odyssey" - July 14, 2026](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/7569cfef-6d9f-4973-9975-8349c7b7d390.webp) ![Randy Randall Rudy Quaid Is Randy Quaids Birth Name](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/d30a8740-402a-4d4b-aec4-b1b71d79e13b.webp) *Photos: PhilipRomano · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AnneHathawayInCrowd-byPhilipRomano.jpg); Eliza George Matter · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Randy_Quaid_in_2017.jpg)* ## The Cruise-Kidman reunion fantasy still has its own pull Quaid is not wrong about one thing: a Cruise-Kidman reunion would be a headline. Kidman played Dr. Claire Lewicki in the 1990 original, and she met Cruise around the time of Days of Thunder before they married in 1990 and divorced in 2001. USA Today noted that they have not worked together since. The Daily Beast pointed out that the original film made nearly $160 million worldwide, which helps explain why this sequel has so much nostalgia hanging around it. Days of Thunder still carries the memory of Cruise and Kidman as a tabloid-era couple, and that memory is stronger than most sequel loglines. But nostalgia is not casting. So far, the sequel announcement does not put Kidman back in the car, and it does not say Hathaway is filling the same lane. It gives Cruise a new co-star and gives the movie a new job to do. ![Anne Hathaway at the NYC Premiere of "The Odyssey" - July 14, 2026](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/d62126c7-cef1-405a-9078-ca939200cc53.webp) ![Randy Randall Rudy Quaid Is Randy Quaids Birth Name](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/09/810ed57f-8e23-42b3-80a3-860fb0aa953d.webp) *Photos: PhilipRomano · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AnneHathaway-byPhilipRomano5.jpg); Eliza George Matter · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Randy_Quaid_in_2017_(1).jpg)* ## The real story is how fast the conversation got lazy What makes Quaid's attack worth talking about is the way it narrows Hathaway down to body talk, pregnancy talk, and politics before it ever gets near the movie. That is a cheap move, and a revealing one. It turns a role with power inside the racing world into a test of whether the actress is attractive enough for someone else's memory. The movie itself is in the hands of Jonathan Levine, with Cruise producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper, and Will Staples writing the script, according to USA Today. Those are the facts that matter if you care about the sequel as a film rather than a fight. For now, the hard fact that keeps the whole thing grounded is the calendar: Days of Thunder 2 is set for June 2, 2028. ## How this piece was made **Format:** Editorial feature ## In this piece - [Anne Hathaway](https://cinepixo.com/people/anne-hathaway) - [Randy Quaid](https://cinepixo.com/people/randy-quaid) - 1990 · [Days of Thunder](https://cinepixo.com/movies/days-of-thunder-1990) ## Sources - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/randy-quaid-blasts-days-of-thunder-sequel-says-anne-hathaway-isn-t-sexy-enough/ar-AA2big0p - https://uk.news.yahoo.com/horrible-choice-randy-quaid-blasts-093400092.html - https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2026/08/31/randy-quaid-anne-hathaway-isnt-sexy-tom-cruise-sequel/91549149007/ - https://www.queen.gr/culture/kinhmatografos/story/320497/i-anne-hathaway-sto-days-of-thunder-2-kai-o-randy-quaid-ti-thelei-ektos-gia-tous-lathos-logous - https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/maga-star-explodes-at-horrible-choice-for-tom-cruise-movie-sequel/ Every factual claim above is drawn from these. The reading of them is ours. Source: https://cinepixo.com/blog/randy-quaid-turns-days-of-thunder-2-into-a-fight-over-anne-hathaway Written for CinePixo. Nothing on this page is imported prose.