Anne Hathaway joins Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder sequel

Anne Hathaway is joining Tom Cruise for a new chapter of Days of Thunder, giving Paramount’s racing sequel a second major star and a firm place on the theatrical calendar. The studio has set the movie for June 2, 2028, nearly four decades after Tony Scott’s original film introduced Cruise as ambitious NASCAR driver Cole Trickle.

A new partner on the starting grid

Cruise will reprise Cole, while Hathaway is set to play a race-team owner and engineer. That combination suggests the follow-up will not simply repeat the first movie’s rookie-driver story, although Paramount is keeping the broader plot under wraps. The two actors announced the project from Daytona International Speedway beside a race car, turning the casting news into a full-scale franchise launch.

The production is being designed for premium theaters. It will be filmed for IMAX and released in formats that include Dolby Cinema and 4DX, an approach that puts the speed and physical scale of NASCAR at the center of the viewing experience. Jonathan Levine is attached to direct from a screenplay by Will Staples.

Cruise returns to one of his defining roles

Cruise is also producing with Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper. Bruckheimer produced the 1990 movie, which followed Cole as he joined a new NASCAR team and learned to control both his talent and his temper. Robert Duvall, Nicole Kidman, Randy Quaid and John C. Reilly were among the original ensemble.

For Hathaway, the team-owner role places her character inside the sport’s technical and business decisions rather than on the edge of the action. It also gives the sequel a fresh dramatic relationship to build around as Cole returns to racing. No additional cast members have been announced, and Paramount has not revealed whether other characters from the first film will appear.

The release plan makes clear that the studio sees the sequel as a large-format event rather than a nostalgia-only revival. With its two leads confirmed and a director, writer and date in place, the next question is how the story will update Cole Trickle’s world for modern NASCAR.