What a world where Jerry Bruckheimer, Tom Cruise, and the movie producing son of one of the world’s richest men are all in need of a hit. Bruckheimer hasn’t had a great year, and while Pirates of the Caribbean is something very near a sure thing, the stain of Prince of Persia and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice won’t be lifted so easily. Cruise is obviously in the midst of a very thorough career rehabilitation which has seen him broaden his horizons (and forearms) and hop back into a proven franchise to defibrillate his A-list status. Finally we have David Ellison, the 27-year-old producer of the weak Flyboys, who also happens to hold the keys to several hundreds of millions of dollars that will be financing a number of Paramount films (including M:I4!). He’s also a flying enthusiast.
The timing works out, so it’s not all that surprising that the three have been pulled in by the gravity of the flaming mass of sinewy 80s nostalgia that is Top Gun.
The Vulture has received information that indicates Bruckheimer’s passing comments about a Top Gun sequel earlier this year were a sign of a serious project to come. Apparently it is Christopher McQuarrie –writer of The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie and the Wolverine 2 script that has gotten Fox all hot and bothered and Aronofsky-hungry– who has the right ideas on fixing up the script to organically include Cruise in a small role (he doesn’t want an “obvious” cameo it seems, so no now-old-school instructor role), and tackle the very different state of combat aviation training. Perhaps you’ve noticed that we’re not after other guys with fighter jets anymore, rather we focus on blasting away ground targets by dropping holyshit from the sky with pinpoint accuracy (except for the occasional mis-calculation that accidentally blows up an Everything You Love Factory & Orphanarium).
If the script still needs to be updated then we’re a ways off from getting any definitive word on the when’s/who’s/how’s/where’s of the project, so don’t get too excited about having a new volleyball sequence to keep on loop just yet.