Key Highlights

  • Honest admission: Tom Cruise said he "puked his guts out" on his first fighter jet flight, in an A-4.
  • It happened again: He threw up once more on the first day of filming aboard an F-14 for Top Gun.
  • He didn't quit: Two more flights that same day turned out to be "just magnificent," he said.
  • Top Gun 3 tease: "Maverick's going to be in it. There's going to be fighter jets. It's going to be cool."
  • The status: Paramount officially confirmed Top Gun 3 at CinemaCon in April 2026.

Tom Cruise is famous for doing his own stunts, from hanging off planes to flying fighter jets. But his first time in a fighter jet did not go smoothly. Appearing on The Jennifer Hudson Show, the actor admitted it made him sick, twice.

"I remember my first time in a fighter jet. I was flying an A-4 and I really puked my guts out," he said.

"I've Got to Figure This Out"

When Hudson asked whether it put him off, Cruise said it only made him more determined. "No. I was like, okay, I've got to figure this out. I don't want to keep puking the back of this airplane. We had to shoot a movie and then on the first day on the F-14, I puked again."

He added: "But I had two other hops, two flights the rest of that day and it was just magnificent."

Why It Matters: A Rare Glimpse of Vulnerability

Cruise has built a reputation as one of Hollywood's most fearless performers, known for pushing his body to the limit for real, practical action on screen. His admission is a reminder that even that fearlessness started with a struggle. The lesson in his story is less about the stunt and more about the attitude: be sick, figure it out, fly again.

Top Gun 3: What He Said, and What We Know

When Hudson brought up the third Top Gun film, Cruise kept the details close. "Maverick's going to be in it. There's going to be fighter jets. It's going to be cool. That's about all I can say."

Here is what has been officially confirmed. Paramount announced at CinemaCon in April 2026 that Top Gun 3 is in the works, with producer Jerry Bruckheimer once again steering the franchise. Ehren Kruger, who wrote Top Gun: Maverick, is returning to write the script, which the studio described as quite advanced.

Miles Teller and Glen Powell, who played the new generation of pilots in the 2022 film, are reported to be among those who could return. No release date has been announced.

The Franchise So Far

Top Gun released in 1986, directed by Tony Scott and inspired by Ehud Yonay's 1983 article "Top Guns" in California magazine. Cruise played Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a young naval aviator who, along with his radar intercept officer Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, trains at the US Navy's Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar. Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer and Tom Skerritt co-starred.

The sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, arrived 36 years later in 2022, with Cruise and Kilmer reprising their roles. It went on to gross $1.5 billion worldwide, and was credited with helping revive cinema after the pandemic. Kilmer, who played Iceman, passed away in 2025, making Maverick his final appearance in the franchise.

The Bottom Line

Before Maverick ruled the skies, Tom Cruise had to survive them, and his stomach did not make it easy. Now, nearly four decades later, he is preparing to fly again for Top Gun 3.

With inputs from IANS.