‘Top Gun 2’ a goner? Not necessarily, Jerry Bruckheimer says

Jerry Bruckheimer may be ending his relationship with Disney. But is his longtime passion project “Top Gun 2” also done for?

The sequel to the 1986 aerial adventure was thought to be scrapped after the death of director Tony Scott in the summer of 2012. But the Tom Cruise pic may yet have a shot, Bruckheimer said.

“Gosh, I hope so,” Bruckheimer said in an interview with The Times last month when asked if there was a chance it could be resurrected. “What was the original, more than 25 years ago? I’m still trying to get it off the ground.”

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Scott was scouting the movie until just before he died, visiting the naval air station in Fallon, Nev. But his death seemed to end the project at Paramount and financier Skydance Productions, where it is set up.

Bruckheimer said that, despite Scott’s untimely death, there had been some development on it. “We’re still working on the script,” he said in the interview. “The Town” writer Peter Craig was the last and most notable writer hired, brought on in the spring of 2012, several months before Scott’s death.

The film, at least at one stage of its development, was focusing on the use of drones in modern warfare, a departure from the manned fighter jets at the core of the original.

Bruckheimer is still formulating his plans post-Disney. But a statement about his ambitions suggested that movies like “Top Gun” may not be out of the realm. The producer is “looking to produce more mature films outside the scope of the Disney brand,” the company said in a statement Thursday.

And for fans looking for reasons to be optimistic the ‘80s have been on Bruckheimer’s mind: A few weeks ago, he was reported to be in talks to join a new sequel to “Beverly Hills Cop.”

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