Anne Hathaway joins Tom Cruise in ‘Days Of Thunder’ sequel, Paramount eyes 2028 release

Anne Hathaway is stepping into the world of NASCAR alongside Tom Cruise, joining the actor in the next chapter of Days of Thunder nearly four decades after the original film hit cinemas.

Tom Cruise, Anne Hathaway join hands for 'Days of Thunder' sequel

Variety had learned exclusively that Hathaway will star opposite Cruise in the sequel, with Paramount Pictures setting the film for 2 June 2028. The studio plans to release it exclusively in cinemas, including IMAX, Dolby Cinema and 4DX formats.

The news was shared by Cruise via an Instagram post with the caption, “Days of Thunder. Summer 2028 (sic).”

Cruise will return as Cole Trickle, the hot-headed stock-car driver he first played in Tony Scott's 1990 film. Hathaway, meanwhile, is set to play a racecar team owner and engineer, giving her a role on the other side of the racing world.

Jonathan Levine, whose credits include Long Shot and Mr & Mrs Smith, is directing. Cruise will also produce the film with longtime collaborators Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper. Plot details are being kept under wraps for now.

The original Days of Thunder arrived in 1990 with Cruise at the height of his early movie-star years. Directed by Scott and written by Robert Towne, with Cruise also receiving a story credit, the film followed Cole Trickle, a talented but reckless driver trying to make his mark at the highest level of stock-car racing. Nicole Kidman played Dr Claire Lewicki, while Robert Duvall starred as veteran crew chief Harry Hogge.

The film was built around the speed, rivalries and danger of professional racing, but its story also gave Cruise and Kidman a romantic thread that became part of the film's identity. Days of Thunder opened in June 1990 and went on to make more than $157 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Tom Cruise's work front

The sequel arrives as Cruise enters another busy stretch of his career. His next major release is Digger, Alejandro González Iñárritu's darkly comic film in which Cruise plays billionaire Digger Rockwell, a man attempting to prevent an ecological catastrophe of his own making.

The film is scheduled for 2 October 2026, and also stars Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Sophie Wilde and Emma D'Arcy.

Cruise is also attached to the developing Top Gun 3, while the Days of Thunder sequel marks another return to one of his earlier film properties.

Anne Hathaway's work front

Hathaway, meanwhile, has had an unusually packed 2026. She returned as Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada 2, alongside Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt, while also starring in the psychological thriller Verity.

She also starred in David Lowery's Mother Mary, playing a fictional global pop star opposite Michaela Coel. The film gave Hathaway a very different challenge, requiring her to embrace the performance style of a contemporary music icon.

Hathaway was also part of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, making 2026 one of the busiest periods of her recent career. She is subsequently expected to return as Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries 3, which is currently in development.

For now, details of the new Days of Thunder story remain closely guarded.