--- title: 'Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway Take ''Days of Thunder'' to June 2028' type: 'blog post' section: 'Industry' format: 'Editorial feature' standfirst: 'Tom Cruise has turned a long-rumored return to ''Days of Thunder'' into an official sequel, and Anne Hathaway is in the car with him. Paramount has set the film for summer 2028, which gives this one a clear date and a real charge: Cruise is back as Cole Trickle, Hathaway is stepping in as a team owner and engineer, and the old racing movie is getting a new engine.' author: 'CinePixo' published: '2026-08-30' updated: '2026-08-30' about_people: - 'Anne Hathaway' - 'Tom Cruise' about_films: - 'Days of Thunder (1990)' tags: - 'Anne Hathaway Days of Thunder sequel release date' - 'Tom Cruise Days of Thunder 2 June 2028' - 'Jonathan Levine directing Days of Thunder sequel' - 'Days of Thunder sequel cast and plot details' - 'Paramount Days of Thunder sequel Anne Hathaway' sources: - 'https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/anne-hathaway-joins-tom-cruise-184843696.html' - 'https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2026/08/29/anne-hathaway-tom-cruise-days-of-thunder-sequel/1121788036244/' - 'https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tom-cruises-days-of-thunder-sequel-adds-anne-hathaway-to-cast/ar-AA2bb51r' - 'https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/anne-hathaway-joins-tom-cruise-184900528.html' - 'https://theplaylist.net/anne-hathaway-days-of-thunder-sequel-tom-cruise-20260829-20260829/' - 'https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/tom-cruise-reveals-days-of-thunder-sequel-with-anne-hathaway/' - 'https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/tom-cruise-confirms-days-of-thunder-sequel-anne-hathaway-1235617788/' - 'https://geektyrant.com/news/anne-hathaway-joins-tom-cruise-for-days-of-thunder-sequel-paramount-sets-2028-release-date' canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/blog/tom-cruise-and-anne-hathaway-take-days-of-thunder-to-june-2028' publisher: 'CinePixo' --- # Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway Take 'Days of Thunder' to June 2028 *Tom Cruise has turned a long-rumored return to 'Days of Thunder' into an official sequel, and Anne Hathaway is in the car with him. Paramount has set the film for summer 2028, which gives this one a clear date and a real charge: Cruise is back as Cole Trickle, Hathaway is stepping in as a team owner and engineer, and the old racing movie is getting a new engine.* By CinePixo, 2026-08-30 · Industry Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway have made "Days of Thunder 2" official. Paramount Pictures backed the announcement on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026, and Variety says the sequel is headed for June 2, 2028, with Cruise back as Cole Trickle and Hathaway joining as a team owner and engineer. Film readers should care because this is not just another legacy sequel being dragged out by brand memory. It puts Cruise back in one of his old speed machines, gives Hathaway a role with some shape, and hands the project to Jonathan Levine from a Will Staples script. ## The Daytona Announcement Cruise and Hathaway revealed the news in a short Instagram reel and a promotional image set at Daytona International Speedway. The setup was simple and smart: a race car, a release date, and two actors who looked as if they knew exactly how to sell the idea without overexplaining it. Rolling Stone and UPI both noted that Cruise framed the sequel as a summer 2028 release, and the key point was not the banter but the clarity. Paramount is not teasing this as a maybe. The company is saying the movie is coming, and it is giving the project a date that sits far enough out to feel large, but not so far out that it reads like vapor. The announcement also matters because it fixes the basic shape of the film. Cruise returns to the role he played in 1990, and Hathaway is not just there for star wattage. She is playing an engineer and team owner, which gives the sequel a different kind of tension than the original. ![Tom Cruise, actor and producer, at Saturn Awards 2026 in Los Angeles, California .](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/906fb6f5-4d44-4add-b5f2-a2f389fa569a.webp) *Photo: Luis Ochea · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_Cruise_and_Christopher_Mcquarrie_at_Saturn_Awards_2026_03.jpg)* ## What Paramount Has Put on the Table According to Variety, the sequel will be shot for IMAX and released in theaters in premium formats including Dolby Cinema and 4DX. That is a useful signal. Paramount is treating this as a big-screen event, not a quiet follow-up for streaming shelf space. The studio has also lined up the key names behind the camera. Jonathan Levine is set to direct, and Cruise will produce with Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper. The Playlist reported last month that Levine had entered talks to take the job, so the announcement makes that move look settled. That combination matters because it keeps the movie from feeling like a nostalgia item assembled by committee. Levine has spent much of his career moving between comedy, drama, and genre work. That does not guarantee anything, but it does suggest a sequel with room to play instead of just replaying old laps. The script is by Will Staples, whose credits include "Without Remorse" and work on the "Call of Duty" franchise. Put together, the package says that Paramount wants speed, scale, and a clean commercial hook, with enough fresh blood to keep the film from turning into a museum piece. ![Anne Hathaway at the NYC Premiere of "The Odyssey" - July 14, 2026](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/fa05e6bf-36a5-411a-ac7d-07840be218d3.webp) ![Tom Cruise, actor and producer, at Saturn Awards 2026 in Los Angeles, California .](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/a702cb2a-e41c-433b-a41c-4669d893600e.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); Luis Ochea · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_Cruise_at_Saturn_Awards_2026_02.jpg)* ## Why the Original Still Matters The 1990 "Days of Thunder" is not remembered because it was delicate. It is remembered because it was loud, fast, and very much a Cruise movie. The original followed Cole Trickle into NASCAR, with Nicole Kidman, Cary Elwes, Michael Rooker, Robert Duvall, and John C. Reilly in the mix. It also made money. The film grossed $157.9 million worldwide, according to IMDb, against a reported production budget of about $60 million. That does not make it a holy text, but it does explain why the title still has value for a studio trying to launch a sequel decades later. Rolling Stone also kept alive one of the better pieces of context around the movie: Cruise said in 1990 that he wanted to give audiences the feeling of being at the track. That instinct still tells you why this property can work again. Racing movies live or die on sensation. If you cannot feel the speed, you do not have much left. ![Anne Hathaway at the NYC Premiere of "The Odyssey" - July 14, 2026](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/bbacee60-08f5-47af-ad18-a3a66beb717a.webp) ![Tom Cruise, actor and producer, at Saturn Awards 2026 in Los Angeles, California .](https://pokemon-dive.us-lax-4.linodeobjects.com/cinepixo/posts/2026/08/a56768f8-60a0-4e2e-b7ff-1c504c26f683.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); Luis Ochea · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · [source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tom_Cruise_at_Saturn_Awards_2026_01.jpg)* ## Cruise, Hathaway, and the New Dynamic The cleanest reason to pay attention is the pairing itself. Cruise returning as Cole Trickle is one thing. Hathaway entering as an engineer and team owner gives the sequel a different power balance, and that is where the movie has a chance to surprise people who think they already know the shape of this franchise. Cruise has done this before, of course. He returned to "Top Gun" with "Maverick" in 2022, and the appeal there was not just the brand name. It was the collision between memory and motion, between a familiar face and a machine that still had something to do. "Days of Thunder" can only work if it finds that same charge. The good news is that Paramount is not hiding the basics. The film is set for June 2, 2028. Cruise is back. Hathaway is in. Levine is directing. The race car is neon green, the track is Daytona, and the clock is already ticking toward summer 2028. ## How this piece was made **Format:** Editorial feature ## In this piece - [Anne Hathaway](https://cinepixo.com/people/anne-hathaway) - [Tom Cruise](https://cinepixo.com/people/tom-cruise) - 1990 · [Days of Thunder](https://cinepixo.com/movies/days-of-thunder-1990) ## Sources - https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/anne-hathaway-joins-tom-cruise-184843696.html - https://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2026/08/29/anne-hathaway-tom-cruise-days-of-thunder-sequel/1121788036244/ - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tom-cruises-days-of-thunder-sequel-adds-anne-hathaway-to-cast/ar-AA2bb51r - https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/anne-hathaway-joins-tom-cruise-184900528.html - https://theplaylist.net/anne-hathaway-days-of-thunder-sequel-tom-cruise-20260829-20260829/ - https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/tom-cruise-reveals-days-of-thunder-sequel-with-anne-hathaway/ - https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/tom-cruise-confirms-days-of-thunder-sequel-anne-hathaway-1235617788/ - https://geektyrant.com/news/anne-hathaway-joins-tom-cruise-for-days-of-thunder-sequel-paramount-sets-2028-release-date Every factual claim above is drawn from these. The reading of them is ours. Source: https://cinepixo.com/blog/tom-cruise-and-anne-hathaway-take-days-of-thunder-to-june-2028 Written for CinePixo. Nothing on this page is imported prose.