Cruise, 62, has been speaking to executives at Paramount about a follow-up to the 1990 NASCAR racing film, which he co-starred in with former wife Nicole Kidman.
"He's talking (to Paramount) about Top Gun and Days of Thunder," a source told trade publication The Hollywood Reporter.
"It's going to be what comes together first in terms of a script.
"It depends on the idea and, ultimately, the script."
According to the report, Cruise - who played USAC racer Cole Trickle with Kidman as his neurosurgeon love interest in the movie - has script approval on all of his projects.
The idea for the reboot comes amid a spate of racing car movies in recent years, including James Mangold's Ford v Ferrari in 2019, Michael Mann's Ferrari in 2023 and the upcoming F1, starring Brad Pitt, from Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski.
"I don't think a (Days of Thunder sequel) is a terrible idea," the insider was quoted as saying.
"You might have said that revisiting Top Gun was a terrible idea.
"I wouldn't discount it."
The original Days of Thunder was a Paramount film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott.
Although it failed to impress at the box office, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is a huge fan.
"Hands down my favourite is Days of Thunder," Tarantino told f1socialdiary.wordpress.com in 2013.
"Yeah, yeah, you laugh but seriously I'm a big fan.
"To me Days of Thunder is the movie Grand Prix and Le Mans should have been.
"Sure, it had a big budget, big stars and a big director in Tony Scott, but it had the fun of those early AIP (American International Pictures) movies.
"I just don't think it works if you take the whole thing too seriously."
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