Top Gun: Maverick Director Filmed Three LOTR Movies Worth Of Footage, 800 Hours In All

Top Gun Maverick director Joseph Kosinski filmed a lot of footage for the new movie, totalling around 800 hours, or about three Lord of the Rings films combined. He revealed this to Empire, saying that on a 12-14 hour filming day, he might walk away with 30 seconds of footage that would make it into the final cut.

"But it was so hard-earned. It just took a very long time to get it all. Months and months of aerial shooting. We shot as much footage as the three Lord Of The Rings movies combined. I think it was 800 hours of footage," he said. The full runtime for Maverick hasn't been confirmed yet, however, but it's surely less than 800 hours long. Or so we hope.

Another unique element for Top Gun: Maverick was the cast needed to learn how to use camera equipment for sequences filmed inside cockpits. "We had to teach the actors about lighting, about cinematography, about editing," star and producer Tom Cruise said. "I had to teach them how to turn the cameras on and off, and about camera angles and lenses. We didn't have unlimited time in these jets. If they were going up for 20-30 minutes, I had to make sure that we got what we needed."

In addition to Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick also stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, and Ed Harris. After COVID-related delays, the movie opens on May 27.

Top Gun: Maverick Synopsis:

"After more than 30 years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him… Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it."