Miles Teller is taking on the role that made Richard Gere famous.
According to Deadline, Teller will be starring in a “modern update” of An Officer and a Gentleman for Paramount, playing the role originated by Gere. After the box office and critical success of Top Gun: Maverick, this is a bit of a victory lap for the actor, studio, and ’80s dramas about naval aviators finding love. In Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise reprised his role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell from 1986’s Top Gun. Teller played Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw, son of the late Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, played by Anthony Edwards in the original. Seeing the $1.4 billion box office of one revived IP with Teller as a lead, Paramount is using the same formula to make another box office hit.
Per Deadline, “Given the success of Top Gun: Maverick, Paramount Motion Picture Group co-presidents Daria Cercek and Mike Ireland eyed Teller for the role, expanding the relationship between him and the studio. [Top Gun: Maverick] brought in $1.4 billion at the global box office and a best picture nominations; since then the two parties have been in constant conversations over what that next project could be. The studio had been toying with how to relaunch this IP and brought it to Teller, who was intrigued.”
However, it was a low critical bar for Paramount to clear for Maverick to surpass Top Gun, which received mixed reviews in 1986. An Officer and a Gentleman was a critical hit when it came out in 1982 and went on to be nominated for various awards, with Louis Gossett Jr. winning Best Supporting Actor and “Up Where We Belong” winning Best Original Song at the 55th Academy Awards in 1983.
No other casting has been announced, or if Gere or Debra Winger will be involved. Temple Hill Entertainment (Twilight, The Maze Runner, Smile) is producing. Matt Johnson wrote the original screenplay draft, but Dana Fox (Cruella, The Lost City) is writing the latest draft.
Since Top Gun: Maverick, Teller starred in Paramount+’s The Offer as Albert S. Ruddy, producer of The Godfather, and the trials and tribulations of making the film. He will be seen in Scott Derrickson’s The Gorge with Anya Taylor-Joy, Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic as Jackson’s attorney John Branca, and in an A24 film called Eternity with Elizabeth Olsen, directed by David Freyne.
