The Israeli family of the journalist whose article inspired the 1986 original best marksman The film sued Paramount Pictures for copyright infringement because the sequel broke box office records.
According to Deadline, Ehud Yonai’s widow, Shosh Yonai, and son Yuval Yonai filed a lawsuit Monday in California federal court, alleging that the studio did not acquire the rights to the original 1983 article in California Magazine, titled Top Guns.
Yonai, who died of brain cancer in Israel in 2012, is credited as the storyteller in the original blockbuster, which became the highest-grossing film in 1986.
In 2020, the Yonai family revoked the copyright to the story and now has the right to cease publication after 35 years, he said in the lawsuit, “Paramount blew his nose.”
“These allegations are baseless and we will fully defend ourselves,” a Paramount spokesperson said in response.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the studio, as well as an injunction preventing Paramount from distributing the film or any further sequels.
The Yonays claimed they sent a dunning letter to Paramount last month, and the studio said the sequel wasn’t based on the 1983 article.
Paramount also said the sequel will be “sufficiently complete” once copyright takes effect in 2020. Yonai responded by saying that the sequel ends in May 2021.
Best Shooter: Maverick continues to make huge profits as the box office leader for the second weekend in a row for the studio.
Source: Breitbart
