Paramount pictures sued over ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ copyright

• Heirs of an author of Top Guns sued paramount Picture over copyright issues.
• Paramount representative said the allegations were without merit.
• The Movie earned $86 million at north America boxoffice.

According to court filings, the heirs of an author whose article inspired the 1986 picture “Top Gun” have sued Paramount Pictures for copyright infringement.

Three decades after the smash original, which was inspired on the 1983 magazine article “Top Guns” by Ehud Yonay, Paramount released this month a sequel that has topped North American box office receipts.

Read more: Kim Kardashian applauds Tom Cruise’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Israel-based Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay, the writer’s widow and son, filed a complaint with a California court on Monday, alleging that the story’s copyright was returned to them in 2020 “but Paramount ignored this, thumbing its nose at the statute.”

Paramount Sued Over ‘Top Gun,’ OG Author’s Family Says Story Rights Lapsed: Tom Cruise never would’ve been flying high in ‘Top Gun’ or its sequel if it wasn’t for a story that the films are based on, the rights to which have lapsed … this per a new lawsuit. Die-hard fans… pic.twitter.com/bcb38U70zP

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“The Yonays contend and Paramount denies that the 2022 Sequel, like the 1986 Film, is derived from the Author’s Story,” the complaint reads.

The Yonays seek to prohibit Paramount from distributing its sequel and unspecified damages.

Read more: Jon Cryer wants to do third Hot Shot movie after the success of Top Gun: Maverick

A Paramount representative on Monday informed various news outlets that the allegations were “without merit.”

“We will defend ourselves vigorously.”

Tom Cruise reprises his role as the aging US Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in “Top Gun: Maverick,” in which he trains fresh aviators for a mission to destroy a nuclear site in a rogue state.

This weekend, the 2022 action film had its second massive showing in North American theatres, grossing an estimated $86 million.

Read more: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ earns $86 million in big second weekend

This ranked it among the top 10 second-weekend grossing films in American box office history. It pulled in $151 million last weekend.

The film, whose release was delayed two years due to the Covid-19 outbreak, grossed $124 million during the first three days of May’s Memorial Day weekend despite not being released in China or Russia.

It was Cruise’s first debut to gross more than $100 million.

The Paramount/Skydance film’s $257 million gross overseas is the latest indication of Hollywood’s return from a period of epidemic gloom.