DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Jeff Gordon says he’s trying to convince friend Tom Cruise to do a sequel to “Days of Thunder.”
The Hollywood Reporter noted last November that Cruise, also the star of the “Mission Impossible” movies, was exploring a follow-up to his 1990 NASCAR film.
Cruise played “Cole Trickle” in the movie. HIs role was loosely based on NASCAR driver Tim Richmond.
“I’ve absolutely talked to Tom about (a sequel) because I want him to do the project, and we want to be a part of it if it were to happen,” said Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, after William Byron’s Daytona 500 win.
“(Cruise) seems to like to tease it, so I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. If that doesn’t happen, I feel pretty confident there’s a project out there that will get NASCAR back on the big screen, if not just a really cool docuseries or something beyond even what we’re already seeing right now.”
The “Days of Thunder” movie was a seminal moment for the sport, giving it a big-screen presence as NASCAR’s popularity began to rocket.
Other movies followed.
They included the “Cars” movie franchise, which debuted in 2006 — the premiere was at Charlotte Motor Speedway — and had sequels in 2011 and ’17. Will Ferrell starred in “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” in 2006.
Even if Cruise doesn’t do another “Days of Thunder” movie, future coming attractions could include a NASCAR-themed project.
“I am seeing just a lot more momentum in projects like coming through NASCAR and coming to Hendrick Motorsports and just more interest,” Gordon said. “So that’s good, right? It talks a lot about where the sport is at, where it’s heading, the amazing crowd that was here all weekend, not just (Sunday), new TV partners.
“So I do think that there’s this kind of resurgence, which is awesome, and there’s also a whole new landscape of opportunities with streaming services and docuseries and also the big screen, which I think it would be amazing to do.”
