Even though Tom Cruise inked a non-exclusive pact at Warner Bros earlier this week, it looks like he’ll continue to be busy with Paramount for some time. Reports tonight are that Top Gun 3 is in development at Paramount with Top Gun:Maverick co-writer Ehren Kruger currently writing a draft.
The word is that the project would reunite Cruise with Maverick‘s Miles Teller and Glen Powell as well as producers Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison. Joe Kosinski, will reportedly either direct or produce.
Cruise is currently shooting Mission: Impossible 8 for Paramount. Also brewing over at Universal is the actor’s outer space movie with Nasa. Doug Liman is directing that.
Puck had the news about Top Gun 3 tonight, and they’re speculating that it could be the 3x Oscar nominee’s potential next project after Mission: Impossible 8. Even without Top Gun 3, it will be a challenge for Cruise to get anything off the ground at Warners for a couple of years.
Top Gun: Maverick is the highest grossing movie of Cruise’s career at $1.49 billion. It won one Oscar last year for Best Sound and was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture.
What’s really glaring in tonight’s news is that Ellison’s Skydance, which is circling to scoop up National Amusements in an all-cash bid, was a producer on Top Gun: Maverick. Deadline first told you that Ellison and Red Bird Capital were kicking the tires on National Amusements. The Shari Redstone-led exhibitor controls nearly 80% of Paramount shares and is the gatekeeper for any M&A deal. One of the backers of the current bid by Skydance is Ellison’s father, Oracle founder Larry Ellison per a WSJ report. Ellison co-financed Top Gun: Maverick at 25% and shared in an overall net profit for the sequel of $391M.
Deadline reached out to Paramount for comment.