'Top Gun' heirs sue Paramount over 'Top Gun: Maverick'

Top Gun: Maverick starring Tom Cruise is this year’s biggest box office hit, generating $291 million in North America in its first 10 days. And now... its movie studio, Paramount, is being sued.

The family of the author whose article inspired the 1986 movie Top Gun on Monday sued Paramount Pictures for copyright infringement.

According to a complaint filed in Los Angeles federal court, the Paramount Global unit failed to reacquire the rights to Ehud Yonay's 1983 article Top Guns from the family before releasing the latest installment.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, including profits from Top Gun: Maverick and seeks to block the distribution of the movie or further sequels.

The family behind the lawsuit said Paramount deliberately ignored how the copyright – obtained before making the original film in 1986 - reverted to them in January 2020.

They said they sent Paramount a cease-and-desist letter on May 11, and that in response Paramount denied that the sequel derived from the 1983 article.

They also said Paramount argued that the sequel was "sufficiently completed" by the time the copyright reverted.

Paramount said in a statement, "These claims are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously."

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