Tom Cruise appears to have been committed to Paramount for some time, despite having signed a non-exclusive deal with Warner Bros. earlier this week. According to reports this evening, Top Gun: Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger is now working on a draft of Top Gun 3, which is currently in production at Paramount.
There are rumors that the project would bring Cruise back together with producers Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison, as well as Miles Teller and Glen Powell from Maverick. Joe Kosinski is said to be directing or producing.
For Paramount, Cruise is currently filming Mission: Impossible 8. The actor is now working on an outer space film with NASA at Universal. That’s being directed by Doug Liman.
After Mission: Impossible 8, Puck revealed the news regarding Top Gun 3, leading many to speculate that it may be the three-time Oscar nominee’s next film. It will be difficult for Cruise to get anything off the ground at Warners for a few years, even without Top Gun 3.
With a $1.49 billion box office haul, Top Gun: Maverick is the biggest grossing film in Cruise’s career. It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and took home one Oscar for Best Sound last year.
The most striking detail in tonight’s story is that Ellison’s Skydance, which is circling to make an all-cash bid for National Amusements, produced Top Gun: Maverick. Ellison and Red Bird Capital were testing National Amusements, as Deadline first reported. The exhibitor lead by Shari Redstone holds about 80% of the shares of Paramount and acts as the gatekeeper for all M&A transactions. According to a WSJ article, Ellison’s father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is among those who support Skydance’s current proposal. Ellison contributed 25% of the total net earnings for Top Gun: Maverick, which was a $391 million sequel.
