Miles Teller Told Tom Cruise He Needs a 6-Month Heads-Up to Physically Train for Top Gun 3: ‘One Month per Ab’

Miles Teller is opening up about just how much work it is for him to achieve his rock-hard Top Gun abs.

During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, Feb. 4, the Top Gun: Maverick alum, 37, chatted with the host about a potential third installment in the franchise — and the fitness training it would take for him to be ready.

“Look, you might be shocked, but I do not green light that thing. I have nothing to do [with it],” he joked to Colbert, 60, after being asked if a third film was happening.

“I just told Tom [Cruise], I said, give me enough time, [and a] heads up for me to get in shape. It’s one month per ab. I need a six-month heads-up,” Teller continued.

Colbert then asked Teller once more to confirm that a third Top Gun film was in the works.

“So yes, it’s happening is what you’re saying?” the comedian asked, to which Teller responded: “I don’t know. There’s a lot of enthusiasm on the fans’ side. There’s a lot of enthusiasm on the creative side.”

Teller and his Maverick co-stars — including Glen Powell, Greg Tarzan Davis and more — went viral after the release of the action film in 2022, particularly for their sexy, shirtless beach scene, in which the whole team runs around during a break playing football. The scene was so beloved after the film’s release that Paramount+ released a three-hour looping cut of the beach-football scene from the hit film in December that year.

“Some folks might prefer staring at a crackling fire for their yuletide celebrations, but if you’re the type who feels the need for speed, a loop of Top Gun: Maverick‘s sweaty beach football scene might be the holiday joy you’re looking for,” reads a hilarious description on the video.

The scene in the movie sees Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) tap into his own past experience bonding with his fellow recruits, and leverage the memory to insist his present-day trainees — including those played by Teller, Powell, 34, Davis, 29, Jay Ellis, Monica Barbaro and Lewis Pullman — use a similar technique.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, Top Gun: Maverick followed Cruise’s character 30 years after his graduation from the TOPGUN Naval aviation program, when he is called back as an instructor for the elite fliers.

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Rumors have circulated about a potential third film since the release of Maverick, and in March 2024, film producer Jerry Bruckheimer exclusively told PEOPLE “we’re working on” Top Gun 3.

“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, said at the time.

In July 2024, Powell teased that he might know of a specific date when production is set to begin on the so-called Top Gun 3 during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

“I mean, I have a date,” Powell said, when the podcast’s host Josh Horowitz asked him and his Twisters co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones.

“Any news you want to share tonight?” Horowitz then asked, to which Powell jokingly deadpanned: “Absolutely not.”

“Josh, we should go to the next question,” he added with a smile.

Top Gun: Maverick is streaming now on Paramount+.