Coming in hot after successfully landing both Joseph Kosinski-helmed summer blockbuster hits, Top Gun: Maverick and Netflix’s Spiderhead, Miles Teller has been cast in his next huge Hollywood production. Today, Deadline revealed that the Whiplash star will be teaming up with Scott Derrickson to lead the director’s upcoming action romance flick, The Gorge.
While details surrounding the plot aren’t being released at this time, we know that The Gorge will tell some sort of high-octane adventure story with a side of a tension-filled romance. The feature is based on a spec script penned by Zach Dean, the brain behind 2021’s action sci-fi flick, The Tomorrow War. Backed by Skydance, the production will mark a reunion for Teller and the company that previously stood behind the record-breaking Top Gun: Maverick.
Like Teller, Derrickson has had quite a successful summer at the box office. The director’s horror thriller, the Ethan Hawke-led The Black Phone, brought in a whopping $143 million at the box office and was received well between critics and audiences alike. Over the last year, horror films have been shining at the box office, with Halloween Kills and Scream 5 both slashing weekly numbers, but The Black Phone outperformed both. It’s with this energy and momentum that Derrickson is running towards his next project with Teller now at his side.
Watch Tom Cruise Coordinate Aerial Stunts in New 'Top Gun: Maverick' Featurette
Teller’s most successful summertime project, Top Gun: Maverick just flew by the $1.4 billion global box-office marking, bringing in $679 million domestically. A sequel to 1986’s Top Gun, the action-packed feature picks up over thirty years after the events of the original film and follows Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as he tries to move on with his future while dealing with ghosts from his past. A call to return to train a new set of TOPGUN recruits leads him to confront one of those ghosts in Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Teller), the son of Maverick’s late friend Goose.
Teller again teamed up with Maverick director Kosinski to adapt George Saunders’ short story Escape from Spiderhead into an on-screen production. The feature centered around a top secret high-security prison in which the prisoners undergo mental and emotional tests under the watchful eye of the dark and mysterious Dr. Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth). Spiderhead also starred Jurnee Smollett, Tess Haubrich, and BeBe Bettencourt.
Along with starring in The Gorge, Teller will also serve as an executive producer. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Don Granger will produce for Skydance, with Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill, and Sherryl Clark for Crooked Highway. Rounding out the production team will be Dean, Adam Kolbrenner, and Greg Goodman.
As of right now, no release date for The Gorge has been set. Check out Collider’s Spiderhead-centered interview with Teller below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBUI2jfa5zk