Paramount Pictures is being sued by a cousin of Top Gun: Maverick screenwriter Eric Singer, Shaun Gray, who claims he wrote “key scenes” of the film
The lawsuit claims his additions to the screenplay contributed to the Oscar-winning movie being “a smash hit”
Top Gun: Maverick debuted May 27, 2022 and became the highest-grossing film of Tom Cruise’s career
A cousin of Top Gun: Maverick screenwriter Eric Singer is suing Paramount Pictures, claiming he wrote scenes for the Oscar-winning film but was never credited or compensated.
In court documents reviewed by PEOPLE, Shaun Gray alleges he worked on Maverick‘s script for five months with his cousin and with director Joseph Kosinski, including writing “key scenes for the screenplay that became the Film’s central edge-of-your-seat dramatic action sequences that made it a smash hit.”
“Gray maintained meticulous, time-stamped files and emails that document and track his writing of these key scenes and his significant contributions to the film and its screenplay,” the court documents add.
The lawsuit for Gray, who has previously worked in visual effects according to his IMDb page, “seeks justice for Gray, a talented screenwriter, manipulated and exploited by Hollywood power players, and demands accountability from Defendants that profited prodigiously by misappropriating Gray’s creative work.”
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
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Paramount Pictures was previously sued by the family of the writer who penned the original 1983 story that 1986’s Top Gun is based on.
Shosh and Yuval Yonay, self-declared “heirs” of aforementioned author Ehu Yonay, accused the studio of a “conscious failure to re-acquire the requisite film and ancillary rights to the Yonays’ copyrighted Story prior to the completion and release of their derivative 2022 Sequel.”
Related: Jay Ellis Says His Top Gun: Maverick Costars Are All Still ‘Texting Nonstop’ 3 Years Later
The plaintiffs alleged that Paramount violated the copyright by completing the sequel — Top Gun: Maverick, which was released on May 27 — in May 2021, more than a year after the copyright to the story had “reverted to the Yonays under the Copyright Act” in January 2020.
That suit — which was represented by Gray’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff — was dismissed last year, though it remains on appeal.
“This lawsuit, like the one previously brought by Mr. Toberoff in an attempt to benefit off of the success of Top Gun: Maverick, is completely without merit,” a Paramount spokesperson said in a statement to PEOPLE. “We are confident that a court will reject this claim as well.”
Paramount Pictures/Entertainment Pictures
Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, and Danny Ramirez in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
The sequel to the 1986 blockbuster saw the return of Tom Cruise as LT Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, and featured a star-studded cast including Miles Teller and Glen Powell, as well as the return of Val Kilmer’s Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazanski.
The action flick was nominated for six awards at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won Best Sound. It ultimately grossed nearly $1.5 billion globally, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2022 and the highest-grossing film of Cruise’s career.
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