Nearly 40 years after its predecessor, Top Gun: Maverick hit theaters around the world. Much like the original, the sequel was filled with intense training scenes, battle sequences and much more. From the outside looking in, one may believe that the toughest scene to shoot may be an intimate, emotional moment with Pete Mitchell or a battle scene with the entire fleet. However, it appears that the toughest scene to shoot may not have taken place on land or in the air. Director Joseph Kosinski says the toughest scene to shoot involved Maverick helping Penny get the engine of her boat fixed.
“I mean, the hardest one, which is one that you wouldn’t think, was actually the sailing sequence. Because there was so much out of our control. I had to shoot that scene three times in three different places before we got it. I shot it off the coast of Los Angeles — there was no wind. Then two weeks later, I shot it off the coast of San Diego — there was no wind,” Kosinski told Vulture.
“Then we took the whole scene and crew up to San Francisco — and the wind blew like hell. So what you’re seeing is Tom and Jennifer Connelly on a very, very fast carbon-fiber racing boat doing 20, 22 knots. We had an America’s Cup team stuffed into the hull of that thing in case anything went wrong. And Claudio Miranda, the cinematographer, and I are on a boat next to it with a Technocrane. I’m literally holding on to Claudio’s chair for dear life, trying to look at the monitor, and he’s operating the camera.”
It’s safe to say that Kosinski’s work paid off. Top Gun: Maverick earned nearly $1.5 billion at the box office. Tonight, it will compete for “Best Picture” honors at the 95th Academy Awards.
