Tom Cruise shares first picture from Top Gun 2 set

IT’S been more than 30 years in the making, but filming on the Top Gun sequel has finally gotten underway.

FILMING of the long awaited sequel to Top Gun is under way — and lead star Tom Cruise has already shared a photo from the set of the air force action flick.

The 55-year-old actor revealed that filming for the new film had begun on May 30 — over a year before the film is due to hit screens, The Sun reports.

#Day1 pic.twitter.com/7jjPL277Es

— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) May 31, 2018

Taking to Twitter, Cruise revealed he has slipped back into his fighter jet boiler suit and has his helmet in hand, ready for action.

With his back to the camera, and facing a jet, Cruise’s iconic character, Lieutenant Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, looks ready to take to the cockpit.

The tweet also included the hashtag: “Day 1” and the iconic quote “Feel the need.”

Titled Top Gun: Maverick, the second film in the Top Gun series is due to be released on June 12 2019.

The script has been co-penned by The Hunger Games film writer Peter Craig and The Jungle Book writer Justin Marks.

The sequel’s director is Joseph Kosinski, who directed Cruise in the 2013 action film Oblivion and also worked on sci-fi sequel Tron: Legacy and firefighter drama Only The Brave.

Original Top Gun director Tony Scott sadly took his own life in August 2012 after plans for the sequel had already begun.

The new film is expected to include drone warfare as well as including fighter jets — with Cruise’s character acting as a flight instructor teaching younger pilots.

The original Top Gun movie was a box office hit.

Speaking to Access Hollywood about the project last year, Cruise promised lots of adrenaline and style in the sequel.

“Aviators are back, the need for speed. We’re going to have big, fast machines,” he said.

“It’s going to be a competition film, like the first one … but a progression for Maverick,” the star added.

Other cast details have yet to be revealed, however Cruise’s on-screen lover Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood, played by Kelly McGillis, said she intended to “cameo” in the sequel when quizzed back in 2014.

This story originally appeared in The Sun and is republished here with permission.