Jerry Bruckheimer Back At Paramount For BEVERLY HILLS COP 4 And TOP GUN 2

Jerry Bruckheimer’s movies have banked more than $16 billion globally – the majority of that at Disney (Armageddon, The Rock, Pearl Harbour, Pirates of the Caribbean, Crimson Tide). The financial disappointment of The Lone Ranger was the final chapter in the relationship and now he’s returning to Paramount Pictures. Paramount is where he produced such 80s mega-hits like Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop (and its sequel), Days Of Thunder (okay, that’s from 1990, but you know what I mean).

Recently Bruckheimer has been knocking-out a lot of television and family friendly fare. Most of that has been remarkably successful –CSI alone must earn him a tonne of cash. However, I get the feeling that he was getting pigeonholed by the Disney brand. He couldn’t make ball-busting actioners like Crimson Tide in the Mouse House these days, as they closed Hollywood Pictures, the shingle where they would release their more adult fare. It’s all about the franchise and marketing potential to families these days. Money, money, money.

Anyway, ‘the Brucks’ return to Paramount will see him bring sequels to Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop to the screen. Both have been in development for years, the former was shelved following the tragic death of Tony Scott, while the latter has never had a script that would satisfy everyone involved (odd considering the majority of Eddie Murphy’s filmography). Now, Brett Ratner has signed to direct BHC4 (again), which will kick-into production soon. Meanwhile, Tom Cruise is polishing his aviators in preparation for Top Gun 2. I hope he’s also digging through his 80s box to find his little black-book with Val Kilmer’s telephone number.

I’m hoping that this deal means that we’ll see some old-school action-thrillers in the Bruckheimer tradition, complete with beautiful Bruckheimer skies. At the very least we’ll get a few unnecessary sequels.

Source: Deadline