'Top Gun: Maverick' Star Glen Powell Leads J.J. Abrams' Blue Angels Documentary

Actor Glen Powell must have fallen in love with naval aviation while filming “Top Gun: Maverick.” He followed up that performance with his role as Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Hudner in 2022’s Korean War drama “Devotion” and is now producing “The Blue Angels,” a documentary about the U.S. Navy’s renowned Flight Demonstration Squadron.

Variety reports that Amazon Studios landed worldwide rights to the documentary, produced by J.J. Abrams (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”) and his production company, Bad Robot, along with Powell’s own production company, Barnstorm Productions, and others.

The new IMAX-shot film film follows the elite aviation squadron for a full year, as they train and perform their aerial demonstrations. The film will be released in theaters before heading to Amazon Prime Video.

“This fascinating and layered documentary is wholly representative of the kind of work ethic, teamwork, and perseverance that goes into being a Blue Angel,” Brianna Oh, Amazon’s head of documentary features, told Variety. “We are incredibly honored to join this talented filmmaking team in bringing their story to audiences around the world.”

The squad’s team of Navy and Marine Corps aviators flies F/A-18 Super Hornets with the help of more than a hundred enlisted personnel.

The Blue Angels were formed in 1946 by Adm. Chester Nimitz, called the Navy Flight Exhibition Team. The squadron changed its name to the Blue Angels after seeing an ad for New York City’s Blue Angel nightclub.

It’s the second-oldest aerobatics squad in the world. Only the French Air and Space Force’s Patrouille de France can trace its origins back further.

Naval aviators serve two- to three-year stints in the Blue Angels, while support personnel serve three to four years. After their tour with Blue Angels ends, they return to regular U.S. Navy assignments. As of 2023, there have been 260 demonstration pilots and 37 flight leaders in the squadron’s history.

The Department of Defense uses demonstration teams like the Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds for recruiting purposes, displaying the U.S. military’s aviation training and capabilities to the public.

It requires special permission for the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds to perform within 150 miles of each other, but they often perform in concert with the Army’s Golden Knights and the Navy’s Leapfrogs parachute teams.

Release dates for the J.J. Abrams and Glen Powell-produced IMAX documentary “The Blue Angels” is still to be determined.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn.

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