Top Gun
Tom Cruise as Maverick in 1986's Top Gun. Paramount Pictures

The long-touted sequel to seminal Tom Cruise blockbuster Top Gun has a new writer in the form of Justin Marks.

Paramount Studios and Skydance Productions are behind the project which will follow-on from the 80s classic directed by the late Tony Scott.

Scott committed suicide in 2012 at a time when the troubled sequel seemed certain to happen. His death further delayed the project but it now appears to be gathering steam once again. Another factor in the film's rejuvenation is the arrival of producer Jerry Bruckheimer at Paramount.

Earlier this year Bruckheimer revealed the plot of the new film, which will be about the importance of top human pilots in an age of war dominated by unmanned drones.

Tom Cruise is expected to return for the sequel.

Marks wrote the script for Jon Favreau's live action Jungle Book movie, which is currently filming for release next year with Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray and Christopher Walken among the stellar cast.