Tom Cruise
Photo: MTV News

"We're working on it."

That's the official word on "Top Gun 2," straight from the star himself, Tom Cruise, who spoke with MTV News' Josh Horowitz during an event in Dubai for Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol.

In the fourth "M:I" movie, Cruise returns as castoff secret agent Ethan Hunt — the only character he has ever revisited during his decades-long career. The question remains: Will he ever don the Navy jumpsuit again and hop into a cockpit as Maverick?

A little more than a year ago, the Internet went abuzz with rumors about Cruise, director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer reuniting for a potential "Top Gun" sequel. Scott confirmed he would be directing, but Cruise's involvement remained a mystery.

When Christopher McQuarrie, the writer of "The Usual Suspects" and the man hired to pen the script for "Top Gun 2," said Maverick would be the lead for the follow-up, all engines seemed go. But then things went quiet. As the major players moved on to other projects — including "One Shot," directed by McQuarrie and starring Cruise — sequel talk died down.

When Horowitz sat down with Cruise in Dubai, the actor updated the project's status and shed new light on the script. "I don't think Chris [McQuarrie] is going to write it," Cruise said. "Chris is directing 'One Shot' right now, which I'm acting. We've got to go back in January and finish it."

With McQuarrie out, that leaves Cruise, Scott and Bruckheimer as the only major players left with the project, but Cruise insists he could still do a sequel.

"I said to Tony I want to make another movie with him. He and I haven't made a film since 'Days of Thunder,' " Cruise said. "Tony and I and Jerry, we never thought that we would do it again. Then they started to come to us with these ideas of where it is now. I thought, 'Wow, that would be ... what we could do now.' "

For Cruise, the two key elements to a sequel would be a worthy script and the freedom to make the movie as they did in 1986. "I hope we can figure this out to go do it again," he said. "If we can find a story that we all want to do, we all want to make a film that is in the same kind of tone as the other one and shoot it in the same way as we shot 'Top Gun.' "

Check out everything we've got on "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol."

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• 'Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol' Premiere Heats Up Dubai

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Episode 1 of 4.

The desert city of Dubai is viewed by many as ‘the land of plenty’, with its plethora of luxury places to stay, sandy beaches, jaw-dropping sky-scrapers and year-round sunshine.

Since 2002, when Dubai’s royal family ruled that foreigners could buy property in the city, 100,000 Brits have invested money with Dubai-based developers, hoping to get their dream home.

But the world recession saw property prices slump and now £50 billion worth of construction is on hold.

Homes From Hell: Dubai Dreams meets the victims of the economic crash, including the family who had to do a moonlight-flit to avoid jail and the couple auctioning their apartment for as little as a penny. Plus, there are dramatic scenes when one man jets to Dubai to confront a builder who took customers’ money and then didn’t build a thing.

John and his wife, whose names have been changed to protect their identities, tell Homes From Hell how they moved to Dubai with their toddler when John took a well-paid job with an advertising agency. They paid for their apartment and car in advance with post-dated cheques, but within six months the company ran into trouble and John was laid off. Under Dubai law he suddenly faced jail if his cheques bounced.

As John frantically looked for another job he sought advice from a lawyer who told him the only way to protect himself and his family was to flee the country.

British property journalist Richard Dean, who has lived in Dubai for 12 years, tells Homes From Hell: “You have to get out before the bank realises you’re in trouble or else they put a block on you and when you get to the airport you’ll be stopped.”

John and his wife reveal how, under the cover of darkness, they hurriedly packed all their belongings, burnt any paperwork which would link back to them, and headed to the airport.

John says: “It sounds dramatic, but it was. To flee a country during the night with your child, I can’t think of anything more stressful and dramatic than that.”

He explains how terrified the family were at the airport as their passports were checked, but that they finally made it onto the plane and back to the UK.

One couple tells the series how they lived happily in Dubai for 18 years before deciding to sell their £750,000 apartment and move back to the UK. But when property prices crashed they couldn’t sell their home and are now facing auctioning it to the lowest unique bidder to get rid of it. They are charging £75 per ticket to take part in the auction and are hoping to sell 10,000 tickets to raise the £750,000 they need. But nine months later they tell Homes From Hell that they have only sold 2000 tickets so far.

Christine and Dieter Glaser from the Shetland Isles explain how they lost £55,000 after investing in an apartment development at Dubai’s snow dome. The winter sports dome was part of the city’s proposed super theme-park which was supposed to be the largest in the world. The development was due to be finished in 2008 but has barely even begun. Homes From Hell wrote to the developers and the Glasers were offered a refund, but so far they haven’t seen a penny.

Kevin and Heather Seymour reveal how they lost £65,000 after agreeing to buy a brand-new £120,000 apartment off-plan. The couple were so excited about the prospect of their dream home that they kept a video diary and Homes From Hell features their footage of the proposed site, them signing the papers, and the foundations of the building being laid.

The couple even met with the owner of the development company and said he made them feel ‘special’ when he told them they would be looked after. But just five days after that meeting they discovered he had fled the country, abandoning the proposed apartment block.

Heather tells the programme: “I quite dread getting into our later years because I wonder how we will manage on the amount of money that is in Kevin’s pension if we don’t get this money back.”

And there are dramatic scenes when Homes From Hell follows Dave Goodman to Dubai to confront business man Ian Beaumont who fled to the city after taking £3m from investors like Dave. Ian Beaumont first appeared in the Homes From Hell series three years ago when Dave revealed that he paid £48,000 towards an apartment in Cyprus which never got built.

At the time, Ian Beaumont met with the investors and pledged his commitment to the project, saying: “I am not a crook. I don’t want to run away with your money.” But, just six months later, he fled the country and Dave Goodman has spent the last three years tracking him down.

Homes From Hell cameras are there to capture the moment Dave surprises Ian at a business meeting and confronts him about the money he lost.

Dubai’s aircraft leasing company is to postpone a $27 billion order for new aircraft as the emirate continues to struggle with its debt mountain.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), which is owned by a number of Dubai state-owned investment vehicles, is negotiating with Boeing and Airbus to postpone delivery of more than 200 aircraft for its leasing division, according to The Times.

A number of Dubai’s leading companies have been forced to reduce their debt burdens in the wake of the financial crisis. This has included state-owned DP World announcing that it would delay a share listing in London whilst it restructures.

Meanwhile DAE has $800 million of debt to refinance by next year and is facing weak demand for leased planes due to the aviation downturn.

Three years ago DAE placed a record $27 billion order of new aircraft but is now looking to push back the delivery. It is also reported to be considering selling or giving its purchase rights to Emirates, the national airline of Dubai.

via Breaking Travel News.