If you look up the definition of the word “blockbuster” on Wikipedia it probably has Jerry Bruckheimer’s picture next to it. Now, believe it or not, he has finally received his first Oscar nomination for Top Gun: Maverick, the 36-year-gestating sequel to 1986’s Tom Cruise smash. It is the rare sequel nominated for Best Picture, along with five other nominations.
Bruckheimer joins me for this latest edition of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens to talk about his remarkably successful career in both movies and television, the secret to his success, the status of more sequels to past hits like Beverly Hills Cop, Bad Boys, Pirates of the Caribbean — and even a third Top Gun. He also is candid about working again with Will Smith and Johnny Depp, and his own favorite films in a career that also includes the National Treasure franchise, Armageddon, Black Hawk Down, American Gigolo, Flashdance, Crimson Tide, Con Air, The Rock, Days of Thunder and way too many others to count. On TV he is the man behind the CSI franchise, the new CBS hit Fire Country and numerous others including the long-running reality series The Amazing Race, for which he has a shelf full of Emmys.
There is much to talk about including his feelings about going to the Oscars as a nominee himself at last.
Click on video above to watch our conversation and go “behind the lens” with Jerry Bruckheimer.
Join me every week during Oscar season for a new edition of Behind the Lens.
