Last December, Tom Cruise returned to big screen stardom in the fourth Mission: Impossible movie. The big budget actioner not only attracted stellar reviews, but huge audiences as well signaling the beginning of a resurgence for the 50-year-old actor’s career. While he became attached to a number of high profile projects, nothing symbolized his rise back to A-list status more than when Paramount announced they were gearing up for a sequel to the 1986 classic Top Gun.
Unfortunately, the director of the original, Tony Scott, passed away over the weekend leaving Hollywood shell-shocked. Ordinarily this would have zero impact on a retread 26 years out of production; however, it was evident that Scott was going to be the man in the chair for this one. There is no telling what kind of impact this will ultimately have on the movie although it is safe to say that it will be given back-burner status.
The script from Peter Craig and Christopher McQuarrie was supposedly already in hand prior to this tragic loss. In fact, Top Gun 2 was so far along that a report surfaced just Saturday that Tom Cruise was visiting Naval Air Station, Fallon to research the role. More specifically, it was a plot point he wanted to get down. Story wise, the sequel is said to deal with aerial drones and modern technology.
What is most disappointing in the news (aside from the loss of a stellar director) is that this movie was going to happen sooner rather than later. We all know how badly Paramount wanted a Mission: Impossible 5 following Ghost Protocol’s success, but the studio was going to wait for the Top Gun sequel to finish shooting first meaning this could have ramped up production fairly quickly.
Top Gun 2 is just one of many projects super producer and talented director Tony Scott left on the shelf. He has a number for films in post and pre-production. It remains unclear how current events will affect these projects.