NASCAR Is Building Over 80 Race Cars For New ‘Days Of Thunder’ Film… And Some Won’t Survive
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After the success of Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Tom Cruise is returning to the world of another one of his films from decades ago: Days of Thunder (1990).
Back when Days of Thunder premiered 36 years ago, the film dramatized what NASCAR racing was like in that moment.
While the release for the next Days of Thunder film is still two years away, and the title for the sequel hasn’t even been announced, NASCAR is already hard at work to help it be everything that it can.
In a new interview, Steve O’Donnell, CEO of NASCAR, shared that the racing company is currently building 80 cars to support the production of the new Days of Thunder.
It’s a “help me help you” moment for Cruise and NASCAR, and O’Donnell insists it’s not an impossible mission.
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NASCAR Prepares To Collaborate With Tom Cruise On New ‘Days Of Thunder’
“I think if you look at, you know, the first [Days of Thunder], it showcased what NASCAR was at the time,” said Steve O’Donnell, CEO of NASCAR, while being interviewed by Eric Fisher of Front Office Sports on Oct. 13.
O’Donnell said that from out of his conversations with Tom Cruise about the upcoming Days of Thunder sequel, the film is “all about where we are today and going forward.”
He added that the film will be “embracing the technology, embracing everything that goes into the sport,” before expounding, “Tom’s message to us was ‘I’m going to put you in front of an entirely new audience, and you need to be ready.'”
With that, O’Donnell expressed that he and Cruise will be working together on including things in the film that the potential new racing fan who sees it may want to know, such as how the racing point system works, what The Chase is, how long races are, and beyond.
“This is a whole new open door for us to bring new fans,” O’Donnell stated.
Asked about if the manner in which racing was dramatized in the original would still be abandoned to favor more realistic racing rules, O’Donnell said that Cruise “wants it to be as authentic as it can be.”
While the plot details are still being solidified, O’Donnell then shared, “I will tell you, we’re producing probably over 80 race cars that are going to be a part of this, some we don’t expect to be back — that they’ll be wrecked as part of it.”
O’Donnell then simply added, “We’re in.”
For this new film, Tom Cruise will be returning as the fictional NASCAR driver Cole Trickle. Acting alongside him for this next chapter in the Days of Thunder story will be Anne Hathaway, who has never acted in a film with Cruise before.
Speaking with Pat McAfee on ESPN, Cruise said of NASCAR, “I love the culture.”
While addressing a crowd of actual NASCAR drivers to announce the start of production for the next Days of Thunder, Cruise said:
“I used to, you know, take cars in the back streets of Kentucky racing when I was a little kid … [‘Days of Thunder’ is] not just about racing, it’s about the community and the people. There’s something very special about racers and the whole community. It’s a culture, and I think that I was very proud to reflect that in the first ‘Days of Thunder,’ and it’s an honor to share it with the world.”
While the director of the original film, Tony Scott (who also directed the original Top Gun), tragically committed suicide in 2012, the new film is being helmed by Jonathan Levine.
The release date is tentatively set by Paramount Pictures for June 2, 2028.
See Tom Cruise’s announcement with Anne Hathaway for when to expect the next Days of Thunder film, here:
Watch Steve O’Donnell, CEO of NASCAR, speak on what NASCAR is doing to prepare for the upcoming Days of Thunder sequel, here:
Watch Tom Cruise talk with Pat McAfee on ESPN about the upcoming Days of Thunder film, here:
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