The actor explained that the high-flying film was “the type of movie that we needed to try and get the movie business back on track.”

Why Kurt Russell wrote Tom Cruise a letter about Top Gun: Maverick

The actor explained that the high-flying film was "the type of movie that we needed to try and get the movie business back on track."

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and *NME*.

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February 7, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET

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Kurt Russell attends Apple TV Press Day at Barker Hangar on February 03, 2026 in Santa Monica, California; Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in 'Top Gun: Maverick'. Credit:

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; Paramount Pictures

Kurt Russell knew that *Top Gun: Maverick *was the film that movie theaters need to get out of the danger zone. **

The *Escape From New York* star and former pilot tells ** that he personally sent a letter to Tom Cruise about the high-flying sequel, which became a box office smash hit when it was released in May 2022.**

“I actually sent Tom a note because I thought that this was the type of movie that we needed to try and get the movie business back on track, which it’s been struggling to do ever since COVID,” Russell explains. “People got out of the habit of going to watch something collectively and got used to watching things at home.”

Tom Cruise in 'Top Gun: Maverick'. Paramount Pictures

As a result, the 74-year-old says that streaming platforms have become “extremely popular," with “a lot of people from our business [pivoting] over to that” instead of the standard theatrical experience. **

A sequel to the 1986 classic *Top Gun*, *Maverick* followed Cruise’s Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as he taught a group of young Navy pilots how to both conduct and survive a dangerous mission. The film also starred Glen Powell, Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, and more.

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The Oscar-winning film was the summer smash hit that the box office needed in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, raking in $1.48 billion globally and becoming the 15th highest-grossing film of all time. It would go on to become the second highest-grossing film of the year behind *Avatar: the Way of Water. ***

Kurt Russell attends Goldie's Love-In Gala in Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of The Goldie Hawn Foundation and MindUP at Ron Burkle's Greenacres on September 27, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.

Stefanie Keenan/Getty

In addition to its box office success, *Maverick* was also nominated for six Academy Awards and took home the trophy for Best Sound at the 2023 Oscars. An untitled threequel is currently in development, with Kosinski in talks to return as its director.

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But, first, the filmmaker is directing Russell in Michelob ULTRA’s new Super Bowl advertisement, which also happens to star *Maverick*’s very own Pullman. Titled "The ULTRA Instructor," the clip blends football festivities with the upcoming Winter Olympics by having Russell transform subpar skier Greg (Pullman) into a serious slope shredder.

“We love watching the Super Bowl, and it's fun to watch the commercials too,” Russell previously told EW about the advertisement. “I gotta say, on that day, they're very different…. They're a little bit like a mini movie. They're water cooler fare, and the next day it’s fun to talk about them. So I looked at it as something like, ‘Hey, let's go after this. Let's have some fun with this thing.’”**

Watch "The ULTRA Instructor" above.

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Source: “EW Action”