‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Brings Back Original Co-Editor Chris Lebenzon
OriginalTop Gunco-editorChris Lebenzonis feeling the need…to return to the franchise that earned him his first Academy Award nomination. More than 33 years after he edited the original 1986Top Gunwith Billy Weber, Lebenzon has been tapped as theTop Gun: Maverickeditor.
According toThe Hollywood Reporter, Chris Lebenzon has been bired by Paramount and Skydance to work onTop Gun: Maverick, the long-awaited sequel to Tony Scott’s 1980s action aviation classic. Lebenzon cut together the 1986 original with Billy Weber, earning an Oscar nomination for his work and credit for introducing what is called “MTV-style” editing to movies.
Lebenzon and Weber’s editing nod was only one of several Oscar nominations the original film earned, which included sound, sound effects editing, and won an Academy Award for original song (Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away”). But it was only the beginning of Lebenzon’s bright career, as the editor would go on to earn a second second Oscar nomination for the 1995 thrillerCrimson Tide, starring Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington, which was also directed byTop Gun’s Scott and produced by Bruckheimer. The industry veteran has been editing Tim Burton’s movies for the past 25 years, includingSweeney Todd, Big Fish, and most recently,Dumbo.Top Gun: Maverickwill reunite Lebenzon not only with the film that earned him his first Oscar nomination, but with star Tom Cruise, who he worked with again onDays of Thunder, also helmed by Scott.
Joseph Kosinskiis directingTop Gun Maverick, which seesTom Cruisereprising his famous role as hotheaded pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as he guides a new generation of pilots, includingMiles Teller’s Bradley Bradshaw, the son of Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, Maverick’s best friend who died tragically in an ejection accident. Also starring in the movie areJennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, andEd Harris,withVal Kilmerreprising his role as Iceman. Jerry Bruckheimer returns as producer.Top Gun: Maverickflies into theaters onJune 26, 2020.
