In a complaint filed in California federal court Monday, the heirs to Ehud Yonay’s 1983 article, “Top Guns,” state the film distribution company did not reacquire the rights for the recently released sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Shosh and Yuval Yonay claim that they sent a notice of termination to Paramount and that the rights reverted back to them in January 2020, the complaint, obtained by CNN, states.
According to the Yonays, production on “Top Gun: Maverick” did not finish until May 2021, more than a year after the studio knew it no longer had the rights to the source material.
“These claims are without merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” Paramount Studios told CNN in a statement.
The movie, starring Tom Cruise, was initially set for a July 2019 release but faced numerous delays and is currently sitting atop the domestic box office for the second week in a row.
CNN has reached out to attorneys for Shosh and Yuval Yonay for comment.
