We’ve been talking about a Top Gun sequel for years and years now, but it looks as though we might actually have some legitimate movement on the project courtesy of Jerry Bruckheimer’s move from Disney to Paramount. It’s being reporting that Top Gun 2 may have just found a screenwriter, The Jungle Book scribe, Justin Marks.
Apparently Tom Cruise will return as Maverick and take part in a storyline that highlights the relevance of old fashioned pilots in a war environment loaded with high-tech drones. Hit the jump for more on the plans for Top Gun 2.
According to THR, Marks isn’t locked yet, but he is currently in negotiations to pen the script. We’ve also got Skydance’s David Ellison on board to produce with Dana Goldberg stepping in as an executive producer. Peter Craig wrote a draft of the script a couple of years ago, but after Tony Scott’s passing, the project stalled.
After all these years, it’s impossible not to be wary of Top Gun 2’s potential, but, then again, if they haven’t stopped pushing for it nearly 30 years after the original’s release, it seems unlikely that they ever will. Plus, the whole drone warfare vs. traditional fighter pilot scenario seems like an appropriate way to go. It’s topical and would give our main man something fresh and interesting to contend with.
But even though Bruckheimer does seem determined to push this thing forward, it’s best to assume that Top Gun 2 is still a long way off. The Jungle Book is in production so presumably Marks could jump into this one pretty fast (unless one of the other projects he’s attached to is the real deal), but even if he churns out a script sooner rather than later, there’s always a chance that Bruckheimer and co. won’t go for it. Hopefully that’s not the case, but after all this waiting, I’m holding out for a green light until I take this one seriously.