‘Top Gun: Maverick’ writer’s cousin suing Paramount over writing credit
The cousin of Eric Warren Singer, the writer of the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick, is suing Paramount Pictures as he claims he should receive credit for writing critical scenes in the movie.
Shaun Gray has filed a lawsuit against the production company after alleging that he was brought on board by Singer after being approached by the film’s director Joseph Kosinski to help create the story for the blockbuster when the process behind it began in 2017.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the New York federal lawsuit stipulates that Gray is seeking a share of profits from the movie as a co-writer or, if he fails to win this, unspecified damages for copyright infringement.
Gray claims that he never reached a work-made-for-hire deal, unlike the other writers on the film, that grants them a credit for their efforts, but documents in his case are said to include time-stamped files as well as copies of his writing for specific action scenes.
He also states that he never entered into any form of written agreement regarding his writing for the sequel to the classic 1986 action movie starring Tom Cruise.
The lawsuit explains that Gray would like a ‘screenplay by’ credit for his purported work on the film, that Paramount should include him in future marketing campaigns, and that he should be given a cut of the profit. If this is not achieved, then he will seek damages for a copyright infringement from the production house.
Paramount Pictures has vehemently denied the claims, saying in a statement that Gray’s lawsuit “is completely without merit” and that they “are confident that a court will reject this claim.”
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