With the record-breaking success of Top Gun: Maverick, it's no surprise that a Top Gun documentary series is in the works.
Titled Top Gun: The Next Generation, the new docuseries from National Geographic will follow the lives of students in the US Navy's elite fighter pilot program made famous in the Tom Cruise fronted Top Gun movies (via Variety).
According to the official description, the documentary series "follows a group of officers as they push their limits on the grueling Advanced Flight Training Program. For the first time ever, they will be embarking on some of the most challenging flight tests possible including landing on an aircraft carrier at sea. The elite nature of the course means that only a minority – the very best – will make it to the top to fly the world’s most advanced jet – the F-35C Lightning II."
Related: Top Gun: Maverick has set another box office record one year after release
The new series will feature interviews with pilots as they navigate the training program as well as aerial shots and sequences.
Speaking about the series, National Geographic's Executive Vice President of Global Factual and Unscripted Content Tom McDonald said: "With so many millions of fans of the film around the world, I was immediately drawn to this series – these elite jet pilots are not only extremely accomplished and impressive, but all have very different stories to tell.
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"With Nat Geo's exclusive unprecedented inside access, this series promises to be an exhilarating, visually jaw-dropping and fascinating journey into the intensely competitive world of elite flying," he added.
"The intimate access we have gained to the characters and the emotional character-led story arcs that run through the series will paint a vivid, compelling narrative around the young men and women embarking on this highly stressful process," said managing director of Zinc Television and executive producer Tanya Shaw.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy.
A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.
In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.
