After years of talk, this spring it seemed like “Top Gun 2” was moving full steam ahead. “The Town” writer Peter Craig was brought on to write the script, and not long after Paramount honcho Adam Goodman said “Top Gun 2” would happen before “Mission: Impossible 5.” In August, director Tony Scott and star Tom Cruise started location scouting, but then on August 20th, the helmer shocked and saddened the film community by taking his own life. So what happens with the franchise now?
According to The New York Times, “the sequel has fallen apart” without Scott around to helm the follow-up, which is understandable. We don’t see Cruise wanting to move forward without the man who made the movie what it was guiding the film. But still on the table is “Top Gun 3D.” In case you forgot, over a year ago it was revealed that Paramount was putting the action flick through ye olde 3D conversion with initial plans for a 2012 release. Clearly, that’s not happening, but it may be just around the corner.
The conversion is finished, Scott had “contributed and responded enthusiastically” to it before his death, and now a February release is being eyed, starting with a one-week run exclusively on IMAX before rolling out from there. Paramount is still figuring out how best to approach the release, while still remaining sensitive and respectful to the passing of Tony Scott. But a tasteful marketing campaign and the involvement of Cruise to get the word out should help them overcome any hurdles, we’d think. And with the studio taking a surprising $3 million with the IMAX release of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in September, those are numbers they can’t ignore, but again, the marketing presents a tricky proposition.
If the “Top Gun 3D” event also doubles as a tribute to Tony Scott — maybe a sizzle reel of his films, with accolades from other actors and filmmakers before the movie — we think that would be the way to go. Either way, this thing should do good buisness, but it’s nice to see Paramount taking a pause to make sure they do right by Scott. For now, here’s Scott’s final work — a Diet Mountain Dew ad starring Mark Cuban.
The One and Only other question
WILL THEY USE F – 14-s ??
If not they might as well drop the show.
its not dead people,dont be ridiculous.when things clear out around scott this will happen.paramount is not crazy to give up up to bilion $ that can come from this.besides both deadline and cruise confirmed just 10 days ago that movie is still on-but they are just taking a pause.