With F1 knocking on the Hollywood door for Brad Pitt following the immense success of Netflix’s “Drive to Survive,” the focus was on NASCAR to also make an entryway into pop culture. After much deliberation, it seems the sport is ready to steal the spotlight on the big screen, with Hendrick Motorsports’ Jeff Gordon taking charge.
Back in 1990, Tom Cruise starred in “Days of Thunder,” which followed the rivalry between the fictional characters Cole Trickle (Cruise) and Rowdy Burns (Michael Roker). 35 years later, Cruise’s good friend Gordon opened talks about a potential sequel starring the iconic actor.
Tom Cruise Might Be Bringing NASCAR Back to the Big Screen
Following William Byron’s second consecutive win at the Daytona 500, Gordon faced questions about seeing NASCAR back on movie screens. With new TV partners and huge crowds gracing the sport, the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports addressed the resurgent state of NASCAR.
Keeping in line with the change, the 53-year-old talked about how “a whole new landscape of opportunities” had opened for them, thanks to the OTT revolution. Owing to the same, Gordon revealed that he has chatted with Cruise to get the project going.
He said, “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.”
35 years since the original movie, technology has evolved leaps and bounds, with the cameras reducing a lot in size and capable of doing much more. Thus, the technical aspect of things has become much more doable. But making things seem realistic and authentic remains a challenge.
Furthermore, Gordon also touched upon the possibility of “Days of Thunder 2” not becoming a reality — “We’ll see what happens.” Should that be the case, the 53-year-old remains confident that another Hollywood project based on NASCAR remains within the realm of possibility. If not, a docuseries is also an option.
