Screenwriter Peter Craig only has one produced credit to his name, but it's a damn good one. A few years back, Craig teamed up with Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard to adapt Chuck Hogan's Prince of Thieves and the result wasThe Town, one of the best crime dramas to come out in the last decade. Today Craig landed a brand new project, and while it likely won't have a lot in common with The Town in terms of tone or content, one can hope that he brings the quality.
Peter Craig has been hired to write the script for Top Gun 2, according to THR. First announced about two years ago, Tony Scott is attached to direct the project and both Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Skydance Productions are on-board to produce. The sequel is a long time coming, as the original came out all the way back in 1986 and not only made a ton of money at the box office, but also boosted recruitment for both the Navy and the Air Force. The trade suggests that Craig's hiring is a big deal as it shows that Paramount is getting serious about putting Top Gun 2 into development. Tom Cruise has previously said that he is involved with the sequel, but as of yet it's not 100% clear that he will be returning to the role of Maverick.
What's interesting, though, is that there was a report last October saying that Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, writers on both Thor and X-Men: First Class, had been hired to do the job that Craig has now been assigned. THR doesn't mention either of the writers in their report. The article also doesn't mention what the story will be about. Scott has previously gone on the record saying that the movie will be about Air Force drone operators who play war games during the day and "then party all night."
Considering that there will be at least a 27 year gap between films, I'm curious if there's really that much demand out there for this project. Will you go see Top Gun 2 should it ever reach theaters? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
