While Jerry Bruckheimer says Tom Cruise liked a story pitch for ‘Top Gun 3,’ he notes Cruise is “a very in-demand actor and he’s got a lot of movies lined up”

Jerry Bruckheimer and Tom Cruise on June 22, 2023. PHOTO:

GARETH CATTERMOLE/GETTY

Plans are in motion for Tom Cruise to take to the skies again in a third Top Gun movie.

Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer behind Cruise’s 1986 hit Top Gun and the 2022 box office sensation Top Gun: Maverick, tells PEOPLE “we’re working on” Top Gun 3 as he promotes his new movie with filmmaker Guy Ritchie, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.

“We pitched Tom a story he liked. But he’s a very in-demand actor and he’s got a lot of movies lined up, so we have to wait and see,” Bruckheimer, 80, adds.

When asked what might surprise fans about Cruise, 61, Bruckheimer immediately points to the actor’s work ethic. “How hard he works,” he tells PEOPLE. “A lot of actors, they finish the day, they get in their car and they go home. Tom stays around, talks to the other actors, looks at the film that they shot, wants to know what’s happening tomorrow. He’s really engaged in every part of the process.”

Where to Watch Top Gun and Top Gun: MaverickTom Cruise in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’.

SCOTT GARFIELD/PARAMOUNT PICTURES/COURTESY EVERETT

Top Gun: Maverick grossed nearly $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office following its release in 2022. The sequel was the highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office that calendar year and currently stands out as the fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time in the U.S. and 12th-highest in the world.

When asked what the movie’s success more than 25 years after the first Top Gun means to him, Bruckheimer tells PEOPLE, “Oh, it’s fantastic.”

“Just the fact that we can entertain so many people around the world was something that we worked so hard on. It is just the best there is,” he says. “Just to stand back in the theater and watch an audience applaud and cry and laugh. Laughter is the best thing in the world.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Glen Powell Jokes of His Future in Top Gun Franchise: ‘That Is All Classified’Tom Cruise in 2022’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES/ALAMY

Bruckheimer’s next movie, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, is in theaters April 19. The producer teamed up with director Ritchie, 55, for a film that stars Henry Cavill as a British special ops agent during World War II.

“I’ve been a fan of his since [1998’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels], way back when he was a young pup,” Bruckheimer says of working with Ritchie. “It’s been a long time trying to get him. Finally, [we] got him.”