Netflix and Apple Tried to Buy Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount

Paramount Pictures has sold off a number of their movies previously delayed by the coronavirus rather than continue to push back the dates and hope they can one day safely come out in theaters. The Trial of the Chicago 7 and The Lovebirds were acquired by Netflix and released last year, Coming 2 America and The Tomorrow War have moved to Amazon Prime, and The United States vs. Billie Holiday is set to premiere on Hulu. Not everything that the studio has is making its way to streamers though as a new report reveals they're holding onto the highly anticipated Top Gun: Maverick from studio superstar Tom Cruise, but not from lack of trying on the part of the streaming services.

According to a report on The Wall Street Journal (H/T SlashFilm) Netflix and Hulu "both inquired if Paramount Pictures would be willing to sell" the sequel to them. Though specifics about their offers weren't revealed, it is noted that Paramount refused both streaming services citing "the strength of the film's perceived box office prospects." This is a great sign for the faith that the studio has in the movie, which has had a long road to getting made and now an even longer toward getting released.

The film remains scheduled to be released in theaters on July 2 of this year. It's unclear if it will be delayed once again, but it has previously been reported that the mid-summer portion of the year might be the time that studios stop delaying the projects.

Tom Cruise returns for the sequel, reprising his role of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, reuniting with his Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski. Joining Cruise in the cast are co-stars Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, and Val Kilmer reprising their roles from the initial flick, plus Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, and Lewis Pullman as new additions.

In the film, "After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: 'Rooster,' the son of Maverick's late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka 'Goose.' Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it."