In a lawsuit filed Monday in California federal court, the heirs of Ehud Yonay’s 1983 article, “Top Guns,” claim that the film distribution company did not regain the rights to the published sequel. recently, “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Shosh and Yuval Yonay say they sent a notice of termination to Paramount and that the rights were returned to them in January 2020, according to the complaint, obtained by CNN.
According to Yonays, the production of “Top Gun: Maverick” did not end until May 2021, more than a year after the studio knew it no longer had the rights to the original material.
“These claims have no merit, and we will defend ourselves vigorously,” Paramount Studios told CNN in a statement.
The film, starring Tom Cruise, was initially released in July 2019, but suffered numerous delays and currently occupies the national box office for the second week in a row.
CNN has contacted Shosh and Yuval Yonay’s lawyers to comment.