Tom Cruise still feels the need for speed, just not super-speed about a "Top Gun" sequel. It has been 31 years since Maverick and Goose sang in that bar, and Cruise is only now preparing to return for "Top Gun 2."

"Top Gun 2" has been in the works in some form or another forever, but an Australian morning show recently pressed Cruise on the subject when he was there to promote other stuff. One of the anchors said she heard about rumors of a "Top Gun 2" and asked that they please be true. Cruise smiled his Tom Cruise smile and said "It's true." The anchors were thrilled (maybe overly thrilled, calm down a bit) and asked for details on when, but at first Cruise just kept repeating "It's true." Could he not say when? Ultimately, he did say this:

"You know what. I'm going to start filming it probably in the next year. I know It's happening. It is definitely happening."

Back in 2015, Skydance CEO David Ellison talked to Collider about Justin Marks writing a screenplay for the "Top Gun" sequel with "an amazing role for Maverick." In 2016, Cruise was on "The Graham Norton Show," and said they were "discussing" the sequel and "trying to figure it out." He reportedly still wants to do his own stunts, like he still does with the "Mission: Impossible" movies, despite now being 54.

Now that Cruise has gone on the record about wanting to start filming in the next year, maybe it'll front-burner the whole project. That would still only get it started in 2018 for a potential 2019 release. But fans have not lost that loving feeling, and are happy to hear there's been any progress at all.

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