New Top Gun: Maverick release date announced after coronavirus delay

The long-awaited Top Gun sequel is the latest movie to fall victim to coronavirus – but the studio has already announced its new release date.

Top Gun: Maverick won’t be flying into cinemas any time soon.

Paramount has revealed that the release date for the sequel to Tom Cruise’s 1986 film has been pushed back from June 24 to December 26, 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic keeps non-essential businesses, including cinemas, closed.

Cruise returns as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the sequel.

According to Deadline, the studio also announced some other changes: A Quiet Place Part II has been moved to September 4, 2020, while SpongeBob: Sponge On The Run, was delayed from May 22 to July 31, 2020.

And Chris Pratt’s sci-fi movie, The Tomorrow War, which was originally slated for December 25, 2020, now has an unset date.

Hollywood studios have been scrambling to revise business plans amid the pandemic, which has closed cinemas globally and halted productions indefinitely.

Fans of the original Top Gun will be particularly disappointed, with hype reaching fever pitch in recent months ahead of the long-awaited sequel’s original release date.

Top Gun: Maverick stars Cruise, Miles Teller, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm and Ed Harris.

It’s set to be just as adrenaline-inducing as the original.

Teller will play Goose’s son and Maverick’s protege. Goose was played by Anthony Edwards in the original film.

Val Kilmer returns as “Iceman” and Jennifer Connelly seems as though she will play a love interest for Maverick.

The first trailer dropped last July, showing Cruise’s character being told by a high-ranking official (played by Ed Harris) that he’s “a dinosaur”.

Kelly McGillis won’t be returning for the second movie.

Fans of the 1986 original will be thrilled to see that the new instalment appears to stay true to the heart of the story – exhilarating high-flying stunts, bomber jackets and those iconic Ray-Ban sunglasses.

Watch the trailer below:

This article originally appeared in Fox News and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as New Top Gun: Maverick release date announced after coronavirus delay