NEW YORK: Filming of the long-awaited sequel of *Top Gun* is officially underway with actor Tom Cruise sharing a picture from the set of the air force action movie.
The 55-year-old actor revealed the filming for the new film had begun on May 30 — over a year before the film is due to hit screens, according to reports in The Sun.
Taking to Twitter, the *Top Gun* star posted a photo of himself in a flight suit staring at a waiting fighter jet on social media, captioning it, “Day 1.”
The 1986’s movie which starred Cruise as Lieutenant Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, Kelly McGillis, Meg Ryan, Val Kilmer and Anthony Edwards, told the story of a hotshot pilot whose recklessness is only matched by his skills in the cockpit.
Although the plot is being kept under wraps, the film is expected to be set nearly 30 years after the original.
Joseph Kosinski, who is directing the sequel, told ComingSoon.net in October that his approach would be “appropriate for the times we live in.”
“The navy is very different now than it was in 1986,” said Kosinski, who previously worked with Cruise on 2013 sci-fi pic *“Oblivion.”*
“It’s just a different world now, so you can’t remake the first movie. It has to adapt, [but] I certainly want to re-create the experience of that movie, which gives you a front seat into the world of naval aviation and what it’s like to be in a fighter jet.”
Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the Tony Scott-directed original, will return to produce the sequel, along with Skydance’s David Ellison and Cruise.