Jerry Bruckheimer’s move from Disney to Paramount is now official. The prolific producer and Disney decided to part ways after the box office bust of this summer’s The Lone Ranger, on which Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski argued successfully for a budget north of $200 million. Paramount officially announced today that Bruckheimer has finalized a three-year first-look deal with the studio set to begin next April, returning him to the home where he got his start as the producer of films like Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop, and Days of Thunder.
Per Deadline, Bruckheimer’s first film back at Paramount will be the long-developing Beverly Hills Cop 4, which Brett Ratner will direct after he finishes up Hercules. Eddie Murphy is reprising his role and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol scribes Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec are penning the screenplay. Additionally, the Top Gun sequel is another priority for the studio, with Tom Cruise also attached to return.
