Not everyone loved “Top Gun: Maverick.” Since its release, the latest installment of the “Top Gun” series has grossed $1.495 billion worldwide and is currently ranked as the 12th highest-grossing film of all time, Barry Tubb, the actor who portrayed Lt. Henry “Wolfman” Ruth in the original “Top Gun,” wants a cut of that gross — and he’s demanding a jury trial to get it.
The 61-year-old actor is suing “Top Gun” studio Paramount Pictures over the use of his likeness in the 2022 sequel. Tubb’s complaint alleges that there was never any mention of a sequel in his original contract and the studio didn’t have the rights to continue using his image 30 years later.
“Paramount gained — and will continue to gain — an economic windfall by using the image of plaintiff for Paramount’s own commercial purposes without having to compensate plaintiff for such usage,” Tubb alleges, according to court documents.
Although an image of Wolfman pops up in a group photo at the beginning of the movie, the main point of contention at the core of Tubb’s lawsuit is an old photo from the first film. Iceman (Val Kilmer), Goose (Anthony Edwards), Maverick (Tom Cruise) and Wolfman are seen in “a four-shot close-up clearly establishing plaintiff [Tubb].” It adds that “the scene is essential in a way that is not incidental.”
Tubb’s lawsuit says the photo in “Top Gun: Maverick” is an altered, behind-the-scenes photo, and those alterations “destroyed any purported…
