Trivia: The P-51 Mustang that "Maverick" Mitchell flies in this film is actually Tom Cruise's own airplane.
Trivia: Despite long being one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, this was the first Tom Cruise film to earn more than $100 million at the domestic box office on its opening weekend. It also went on to become his highest grossing film, as well as his first film to gross $1 billion worldwide.
Trivia: Originally meant to be released in July 2019. It was then pushed back to June 2020 but further delayed, several times, due to the pandemic. It was eventually released in May 2022, 4 years after filming.
Trivia: Glen Powell originally auditioned for the part of Rooster and made it to the last three (alongside Miles Teller and Nicholas Hoult). While he didn't get the part, he impressed Tom Cruise and the producers so much that the role he did get (Hangman) was expanded from what it was originally.
Trivia: Tom Cruise and Jennifer Connelly did their own sailing.
Trivia: Tom Cruise was so adamant about having Val Kilmer in Top Gun: Maverick that Cruise refused to do the movie unless Kilmer was in it.
Trivia: The otherwise-unnamed "5th generation fighters" are Sukhoi Su-57 aircraft, currently only used by Russia. However only about 14 are operational, and Russia was unsurprisingly not going to loan their most advanced aircraft to a US movie production, so the planes seen onscreen are CGI. "5th generation" is an actual term, albeit somewhat loosely defined - the only 5th generation fighters in operation are the F-22 Raptor, the F-35 Lightning II, the Chengdu J-20, and the Sukhoi Su-57.
Trivia: Val Kilmer's role as "Iceman" mirrors his own health struggles - the actor is in remission from throat cancer and has had a tracheotomy, reducing his voice to a "rasp" and making it hard to speak and for others to understand him. An AI program was used to recreate his voice for the small amount of dialogue he has in the film.
Trivia: Tom Cruise wasn't happy with the results of the first beach football sequence, so it had to be reshot. Unfortunately for the cast that meant having got into peak physical shape for the first run and then "splurging" as they put it, on unhealthy food, they then had to hit the gym and get back into shape again.
Trivia: "Darkstar" flies low over the ground and its wake tears the roof off a shack. The roof wasn't actually meant to come off, but it looked so good and fit the scene so well they used that take.
Trivia: When Maverick and Rooster are in the F14 on the way back and are in a dogfight, Rooster tells Maverick "Come on Mav, do some of that pilot shit!" This is the exact same line Goose tells Maverick when they are in Top Gun. This will be obvious to people who grew up with the original, but may not be to new fans who haven't watched the original 100 times.
Trivia: The cast got to choose their own callsigns. Miles Teller chose Rooster as it was another bird, like his character's father Goose.
Suggested correction: According to several sites, all the call signs were scripted. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2022/05/top-gun-maverick-call-sign-rooster-phoenix-payback. They were given the option to change them if they had wanted to, but none did.
Trivia: Most of the in-flight shots of the cast were filmed during actual flight sequences. Tom Cruise himself designed a training regimen for them so they could handle the strains of filming under those circumstances. As a result of the setup and being in the air, the cast were responsible for starting and stopping the cameras, also touching up their own makeup. On at least one occasion Miles Teller accidentally wiped the footage he'd filmed during one flight. The cast were only allowed in the fighters on condition that they didn't touch anything, as civilians aren't permitted to control any Defense Department assets.
Trivia: Admiral Bates' quote "Success, now more that ever, comes down to the man or woman in the box" is a paraphrase of the Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron) quote "The quality of the box matters little. Success depends upon the man who sits in it." (00:33:19)
