"Don’t be a pussy, Tom Cruise!": 'Days Of Thunder' star ignites explosive sequel feud

Highlights

• Randy Quaid has taken aim at Tom Cruise over Anne Hathaway’s casting in Days of Thunder 2.
• The actor urged Cruise to bring back Nicole Kidman instead of introducing a new leading lady.
• Quaid also criticised Hathaway in a series of controversial posts about the sequel.

Randy Quaid has reignited the Days of Thunder drama more than three decades after the original film hit cinemas, and this time his target is Tom Cruise.

The actor, who played NASCAR team owner Tim Daland in the 1990 racing film, has publicly challenged Cruise over Anne Hathaway joining the upcoming sequel. In a series of posts on X, Quaid argued that the film should bring back Nicole Kidman rather than introduce a new female lead.

His first message to Cruise was particularly blunt: “We need Nicole back. Don’t be a pussy, @TomCruise.”

Randy Quaid wants Nicole Kidman back

Quaid made it clear that he believes a reunion between Cruise and Kidman would give Days of Thunder 2 the connection to the original film that he feels it needs.

Cruise and Kidman met while making the first Days of Thunder and went on to marry later that year. They subsequently appeared together in Far and Away and Eyes Wide Shut, but have not shared the screen since their divorce.

“If I were in control of production,” Quaid wrote, he would make the sequel about seeing Tom and Nicole together on screen again, adding that audiences do not need “a new girl” but “a new race car”.

The comments came shortly after Paramount announced Hathaway would join Cruise in the sequel. She is expected to play a team owner and engineer, although plot details remain under wraps.

His criticism of Anne Hathaway sparks controversy

Quaid went further in another post, calling Hathaway a “leftist, woke, horrible choice” for what he described as a Days of Thunder NASCAR audience.

He also made comments about Hathaway’s pregnancy, arguing that she was not the right choice for the role because of it. The remarks have added a controversial dimension to what could otherwise have been a straightforward casting announcement.

The timing is particularly awkward because Quaid appeared to suggest just hours earlier that he could be returning for the sequel himself.

“Hey, Tom Cruise just called me. We’re making Days of Thunder 2!” he said in a video, although Paramount has not confirmed his involvement.

Days of Thunder 2 is racing towards 2028

The sequel is scheduled to arrive on June 2, 2028, with an IMAX release. Jonathan Levine is directing from a screenplay by Will Staples, while Cruise is producing alongside Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper.

The original Days of Thunder, directed by Tony Scott, was released in 1990 and starred Cruise as hot-headed NASCAR rookie Cole Trickle. It earned $82.6 million domestically and $157.9 million worldwide.

More than 35 years later, the sequel has already attracted plenty of attention. But if Quaid’s latest outburst is anything to go by, the biggest drama surrounding Days of Thunder 2 may have started long before the new cars hit the track.