Paramount Global convinced a New York federal judge on Wednesday to reject a writer’s bid for a share of profits from the studio’s blockbuster Tom Cruise movie “Top Gun: Maverick,” though the judge let part of the case move forward.
US District Judge Jed Rakoff said that Shaun Gray failed to show he was entitled to part of the film’s copyright based on his work on the movie’s script. The judge declined, however, to dismiss Gray’s copyright infringement claim against Paramount.
Rakoff said in the two-page order that he would publish a separate opinion outlining his reasoning “in due course.”
Gray’s attorney Marc Toberoff said on Thursday that he and his client were “gratified the Court recognizes that these facts at the very least state a valid copyright infringement claim and look forward to securing justice at trial.” Spokespeople for Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision on Thursday.
Gray, who said he is the cousin of “Maverick” screenwriter Eric Singer, sued Paramount in April. Gray’s lawsuit said that Singer and director Joseph Kosinski approached him in 2017 about co-writing the screenplay for “Maverick.”
The complaint said that Gray wrote several scenes that appeared in the movie, including multiple fighter jet flight scenes. Gray also said he was the film’s only writer who was not subject to a work-made-for-hire agreement, which entitled him to a share of its copyright and profits.
“Maverick,” the sequel to the 1986 hit “Top Gun,” grossed nearly $1.5 billion worldwide following its theatrical release in 2022.
Paramount told the court in June that Gray “never received a credit of any kind on ‘Maverick’ or on any screenplay draft,” and that he had “no viable claim” against the studio.
The case is Gray v. Paramount Global, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:25-cv-03484.
