Tom Cruise Turned Down ‘Top Gun’: Jerry Bruckheimer Reveals What Changed His Mind

Tom Cruise is ready to take stunts to new heights with “Top Gun: Maverick,” and mega producer Jerry Bruckheimer hopes this will be the movie to make the box office soar again.

“Extra’s” Jenn Lahmers caught up with Bruckheimer, who told her, “It's what's going to bring people back to theaters.”

Bruckheimer also commented on the protest over the lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, as Cruise returns his three Golden Globe trophies.

Bruckheimer said, “It's always great when your community comes together. We always preach diversity and do all kinds of things to make… entertainment… for everybody, and that's what Hollywood is all about.”

“Top Gun” is celebrating its 35th anniversary, and Jerry revealed the hit movie almost took flight without Tom. He said, “We were turned down by Tom Cruise over and over again. But we arranged with the Blue Angels… to take him up in a jet and he came down, he had a great ride, walked to a pay phone, called me up, and said, ‘Jerry, I'm in.’”

Fans can even see the original film in theaters for a limited time. Bruckheimer said, “It's going out in limited release for a week. So I think that's pretty exciting… We did new sound. We did new color. It's all updated. Looks fantastic.”

He confessed, “We had no idea the movie was going to be the smash success that it turned out to be… We had a preview in Austin… and I'm telling you, we thought we had the biggest bomb in the world. Nobody applauded. Nobody made a sound. But when we got the numbers in, it was through the roof.” He added, “Navy recruitment went up 500% after the first movie.”

Jenn asked, “I heard the only person who didn't vomit in this fighter jets was...” and Jerry interjected, “Tom Cruise, of course… Every single actor — except for Tom — threw up. Couldn't use any of the footage. The only footage we could use was Tom's.”

Cruise helped get the “Maverick” cast ready, too. Bruckheimer explained, “We trained actors for three months. Tom put them through a course how he learned how to fly… When you see the footage, you'll realize this is all real.”