Posted in: Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: movies, Paramount Pictures, top gun: maverick

Top Gun: Maverick Screened For Ridley Scott In Memory Of Tony Scott

A sequel to Top Gun has been sitting in varying levels of development for many years, but things really began to take form in 2010. It seemed like everything was going well, but on August 19, 2012, original Top Gun director Tony Scott took his own life by jumping off of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the San Pedro port district in Los Angeles. It was a tragedy, and several members of the original cast and crew spoke to Empire about how they were preparing to work on the film that would eventually become Top Gun: Maverick and even scouting locations when Scott lost his life to suicide.

"The first conversation I ever had about Top Gun: Maverick was 11 years ago, when I was called to a meeting with Tom, Jerry Bruckheimer, producer] David Ellison and Tony Scott," says writer [Christopher McQuarrie. "And then, tragically, Tony passed away and the movie went away with it." It was news that shook everyone in the director's orbit. "We were scouting on Friday together," recalls Cruise. "I was with Tony on Friday, and he passed on Sunday. It was horrible." Bruckheimer remembered some of the preparation he and Scott undertook together for the film. "We were so close," he says. "We went to the Top Gun school with Tony, and talked to a bunch of officers and aviators for ideas."

Paramount has been delaying Top Gun: Maverick until they were sure that the audience was ready to be back in theaters after the COVID-19 pandemic. In some ways, that might have been the way to go considering the pressure sitting on this production and the huge price tag attached to everything. There was also a good side to it; all of the delays meant that they got the chance to show the movie to Tony Scott's brother, director Ridley Scott, to see what he thought of the film. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer was very moved by that experience.

"One of the most heartwarming things I experienced is when we showed the movie to Tony's brother, Ridley," says Bruckheimer. "He was laudatory in his praise for the film, and the kind of care that Tom took to honour Tony throughout the movie. That was foremost in everybody's mind."

Paramount Pictures clearly has a lot of faith that this movie will be good, considering the lead-up they are giving it. Those of us attending CinemaCon later this month will get the chance to see the film, followed by a May 4th worldwide premiere in San Diego. Then the film will be making a showing at the Cannes Film Festival before finally releasing in theaters on May 27th. That's nearly a month of hype from people for Paramount, which studios don't do unless they think they have a winner. It's good that everyone involved is keeping Scott in their minds, and it isn't surprising that they are making sure that he is honored in this film. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Summary: After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: "Rooster," the son of Maverick's late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka "Goose." Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.

Top Gun: Maverick, directed by Joseph Kosinski, stars Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Charles Parnell, Bashir Salahuddin, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Greg Tarzan Davis with Ed Harris. It will be released on May 27, 2022.

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