on billboard
At today’s premiere of the sequel, producer Bruckheimer recalls the problems that the saga that raised Tom Cruise has overcome
36 years ago, few people believed that ‘Top Gun’ was going to become an iconic film for the 80’s generation, least of all producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who along with his late partner Don Simpson was at the helm of the project. «Before its premiere, we had a showing in Houston and the reaction of the public was extremely cold. We thought we had the world’s biggest flop on our hands,” recalls Bruckheimer. “But we didn’t realize that a shuttle had crashed that weekend and there was an emotional numbing of the audience. The first reviews were not good either and it seemed that we were going to disaster. It was impossible to predict what came next.”
Because what came was madness. The story of the young pilot nicknamed Maverick, Tom Cruise, who loses his co-pilot Goose (Anthony Edwards), joins his old rival Iceman (Val Kilmer) and falls in love with his instructor, Charlie, (Kelly McGillis) is already part of the history of cinema, in addition to making Cruise a global superstar, a position he has not lost until now. Three and a half decades after that blockbuster, today the second part is released, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, where Cruise is the captain of a group of risky ‘Top Gun’ and Jennifer Connelly, his counterpoint.
But why has it taken so long to make the sequel? “When we released ‘Top Gun,’ the studio said, ‘We have a movie that’s a hit, we should do a sequel, can it be cheaper?’ But that’s not how I work. We let time pass, then Tony Scott[director of ‘Top Gun’]died, who was going to be in charge of the sequel and we thought that it would not be done anymore. But seven or eight years ago, we got more serious about it. We brought in director Joseph Kosinski (‘Tron: Legacy’), who came up with an idea that we all loved, and brought him to Paris, where Tom was shooting ‘Mission Impossible’. After his meeting with Kosinski, Tom took out his phone, called the head of Paramount and said, ‘I’m going to shoot another Top Gun.’ Nobody said no, on the contrary, they were happy to hear it, “says Bruckheimer.
There is also some tribute to Scott, who committed suicide in 2012, in circumstances that the producer recalls. “Tony was wonderful. In fact, Tom and I were with Tony in Nevada the weekend he died. We were there on a Friday talking about the movie. We flew home together, and on Sunday I got the call that he had passed away. It was very sad and really shocking because Tony was so excited to make the movie. The first thing I did when we finished ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was show it to Ridley (Tony’s brother), who told us that he loved it. Having his blessing was very exciting for me ».
“The director has managed to put the camera inside the plane and make the audience feel what the fighter pilots feel. We spent 15 months trying to put six cameras in the cabin of the planes, because putting them meant taking something out of the plane»
Scott’s death was one of the many problems that the film has faced, which can add to the list of cursed film titles. And it is that later the pandemic arrived, which delayed the premiere for another two years. But now, with the projectors about to turn on, Bruckheimer focuses on the spectacular nature of the film. “The director has managed to put the camera inside the plane and make the audience feel what the fighter pilots feel. We spent 15 months trying to place six cameras in the cabin of the planes. We work with Navy technicians and pilots until we achieve the necessary space for the camera. Because putting the cameras meant taking something out of the plane », he explains.
“A professional athlete”
In any case, if ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ repeats the success of the original film, it will be due to the pull of Tom Cruise. “Tom is a genius. He has earned his place. He deserves success because he works very hard to achieve it”, says Bruckheimer, who praises the actor’s dedication to his profession: “He lives his life as a professional athlete. The way he eats, how he sleeps, everything he does is so he can get better and keep making movies. He has achieved everything by studying the industry and surpassing himself ».
However, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ has not been without its critics. Actress Kelly McGillis has been left out of the cast. She denounces that she has been her because she is “ugly and fat.” But the producer avoids the controversy and believes that there are only artistic reasons for that decision. “Maverick is a man with no strings attached,” he says. One day he’s chatting at the bar with Penny (Connelly’s character) and the next day he’s in Bahrain. That’s how he is.”
Nor does Connelly allude to that subject and thanks Kosinski for calling her for ‘Top Gun’. “He is a great director. When I read the script, he impressed me. I thought it was a compelling story and they had come up with a really good idea for a sequel,” she says.
#Top #Gun #cursed #movie #icon