Gray’s lawsuit states that after being brought on by his cousin in 2017, he participated in story meetings and “wrote key scenes” for vital action sequences, including the opening scene. THR reports that the lawsuit includes “time-stamped files and emails that document his writing of the scenes.” Gray claims he never had a contract with Paramount during the period he worked on the film, and is now seeking a court order for Paramount to award him a “screenplay by” credit, to be included in future marketing efforts and works related to the movie, and a cut of profit. If not, he’ll pursue a copyright infringement case against the studio.
A source for IndieWire claimed that this is more of a family dispute between Gray and Singer than a real claim against Paramount. (The outlet notes that Captain JJ “Yank” Cummings, a consultant on the film for the U.S. Navy, spoke of working closely with Gray and Singer on the screenplay in an interview with GQ.) However, far from keeping the issue in the family, Gray teamed up with lawyer Marc Toberoff, who previously sued Paramount over another Maverick copyright claim (the case has since been dismissed, but is now in appeal). “This action seeks justice for Gray, a talented screenwriter, manipulated and exploited by Hollywood power players, and demands accountability from Defendants that profited prodigiously by misappropriating Gray’s creative work,” the suit states.
In a statement, Paramount Pictures said, “This lawsuit, like the one previously brought by Mr. Toberoff in an attempt to benefit off of the success of Top Gun: Maverick, is completely without merit. We are confident that a court will reject this claim as well.”
Toberoff gave his own counter-statement to Deadline, saying, “Paramount can deny, deflect and scapegoat all they want, but Exhibit 2 to the Complaint documents Shaun Gray’s very significant joint-authorship of the Top Gun: Maverick screenplay with detailed citations to Gray’s time-stamped files and time-stamped emails conveying his scenes to Eric Singer and at times to the film’s director, Joseph Kosinski.”
