As part of their “Directors on Directors” series, Variety arranged for “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski to be interviewed by “Glass Onion” and “Knives Out” director Rian Johnson, and vice versa. After asking Johnson if he had ever taken an improv or acting class (both directors have), the former “Star Wars” provocateur asked Kosinski how he first got involved in the long-awaited “Top Gun” sequel. After all, the original 1986 film remains a classic piece of American cinema, an unabashed — and arguably naive — celebration of patriotism, masculinity, and the thrill of fighting for your country.

Answering Johnson’s question, Kosinski reveals that taking over the coveted future of the series was pretty simple: producer Jerry Bruckheimer sent him a draft of the script, and he was interested. The aspect of the film that inspired some anxiety was getting Tom Cruise to sign back on — though Kosinski already felt that Rooster would be the deciding factor. “I knew that Tom would be reticent to return to that character unless there was a real strong emotional reason,” he told Johnson. “So the notion of Maverick having to reconcile a relationship with Rooster, his wingman’s son, to me seemed like a great way in.”

With this plan, Kosinski and Bruckheimer flew to Paris to meet Cruise on the set of 2018’s “Mission Impossible- Fallout” to pitch the film. “I started with that Rooster storyline,” he recalled, “and I could see his mind start to turn, and he started seeing a way into this character. Tom basically greenlit the movie at the end of the meeting.” Bruckheimer agreed that the meeting went so well that Cruise almost immediately called Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos to express his desire for the film to be made (per The Hollywood Reporter). Following the call, “Top Gun: Maverick” was officially ready to fly.