'Top Gun 2' Gets 'Jungle Book' Writer Justin Marks

Top Gun 2 was getting ready to take flight when the 2012 death of Tony Scott left the project grounded. But now it's preparing to try and launch again.Justin Marks, the writer of Disney's upcoming The Jungle Book, has been entered talks for the sequel. Tom Cruise remains attached to reprise his role as Maverick. Hit the jump for more details.

Among the never-made projects he's had a hand in are the Green Arrow film Supermax, the Shadow of the Colossus adaptation, the He-Man movie, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Universal's The Raven (not the John Cusack one). In fact, he and Top Gun 2 producer Jerry Bruckheimer last worked together on the stalled Disney project War Dogs.

But his luck may be turning. Marks' live-action The Jungle Book is in production right now, with director Jon Favreau and an all-star voice cast including Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, and Bill Murray. Additionally, he was hired a few months back to adapt the Vertigo comic Federal Bureau of Physics.

Top Gun 2 had been in the works for some time already when Scott's passing put it on hold. Nevertheless, Bruckheimer has remained determined to get the sequel in motion. When he struck his development deal at Paramount, he named Top Gun 2 as one of his high-priority projects. David Ellison of Skydance is also producing.

A previous version of the script was written by Peter Craig. It sounds like Marks' new screenplay will follow the same broad strokes, following Maverick as he proves how relevant good old-fashioned pilots can be even in today's high-tech, drone-driven world. "Because you still have to make quick decisions and the pilots who want to make quick decisions, so we're going to hopefully highlight both worlds," Bruckheimer said earlier this year.