Tom Cruise Won't Be Reprising Maverick Role

Tom Cruise will not be reprising his role as Maverick in a Top Gun sequel, despite reports to the contrary.

It was claimed the actor, 46, would be taking to the skies once again in the fighter jet film, 22 years after the original.

However, a spokesperson for Paramount (which released Top Gun in 1986) told TV show Access Hollywood there was "no way" Cruise would be returning to the role.

In addition, a rep for Cruise also said the reports of a Maverick reprisal are completely untrue.

According to the erroneous reports, the sequel would have seen Cruise’s character returning to Top Gun school as a flight instructor.

Meanwhile, the studio's denial of Tom reprising his role in the film that made him a star follows a report earlier this week from Fox News' Roger Friedman claiming Cruise's "heyday" as a box office star is over.

"It looks like there’s a snag in Tom Cruise’s big career comeback film," Friedman writes. "Cruise is probably not going to be playing the role of Edwin A. Salt, a fictional CIA officer who is outed as a spy.

"Edwin A. Salt, which is set at Columbia Pictures, has had a rocky road. First Terry George was set to direct. He left and was replaced by Philip Noyce.

"But now Cruise is out, and I'm told it's because of money. Apparently, Tom is unaware of the change in his status in the Hollywood community. Where once he was the top-paid star, Cruise now is in a position where a $20 million salary is not possible. I'm told an internal memo went around among the film's producers and top creators in which the Cruise situation was discussed and names were gathered for a replacement.

"The reasons for Cruise's departure are not just his diminished popularity, negative public opinion and Scientology — although those would be good enough. It's also just generational. Cruise is 46. His heyday as a box office star — if he ever had one — is over.

"Like past huge leading action stars such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cruise must face the brutal facts of aging. Ironically, he’s been replaced by Will Smith, whom Cruise has courted for Scientology. Talk about rubbing 'Salt' in a wound!"