ABC frontman Martin Fry reveals he turned down the chance to write the Top Gun soundtrack because he didn’t think the movie would be a big hit.
ABC frontman Martin Fry has revealed that he turned down the opportunity to write the Top Gun soundtrack.
The 1980s pop star, 65, said he wasn’t interested when he was approached for the job because he didn’t think the Tom Cruise-starrer movie would ‘get off the ground’.
He was at the height of his fame when he was asked to work on the film in 1986, but after seeing a special screening of the director’s cut, he said no.
During the ’80s, Martin and ABC produced five hit albums, including Beauty Stab, Alphabet City and, their biggest hit, The Lexicon of Love in 1982, which reached #1 in the UK.
He said Mirror to turn it down: ‘They invited us to see a movie in Los Angeles for which they were looking for music.
Oh no! ABC frontman Martin Fry has revealed that he turned down the chance to write the Top Gun soundtrack.
Shock: The ’80s pop star, 65, said he wasn’t interested when approached for the job because he didn’t think the Tom Cruise-starrer movie would “get off the ground”
“I remember saying, ‘It’s a movie about airplanes, it’s so jingoistic it’s never going to get off the ground.
“Six months later, the movie came out and I was sitting in the theater thinking, ‘Shit, this is that movie.’ It was Top Gun. Rank stupidity is a big part of being in a band.
The film won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Berlin’s song Take My Breath Away, and the album became the best-selling soundtrack of 1986.
After the original movie, Top Gun: Maverick was released in 2022, again starring Tom Cruise.
Last summer it surpassed $600 million at the international box office.
The tally brought Tom Cruise’s sequel to more than $1.2 billion worldwide, cementing it as Paramount Pictures’ “highest-grossing film ever globally,” as reported by Deadline.
It’s only the 12th film to cross the $600 million mark at the domestic box office.
Internationally, Top Gun: Maverick ranks number three of the highest titles in the history of the production company.
Past: He was at the height of his fame when he was asked to work on the film in 1986, but after seeing a special screening of the director’s cut, he said no (Martin pictured in 1982)
Success: The film won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for the song Take My Breath Away from Berlin, and the album became the best-selling soundtrack of 1986.
Moving On: Following on from the original film (pictured by Tom and Kelly McGillis), Top Gun: Maverick is set for a 2022 release, again starring Tom Cruise
Meanwhile, in 28 foreign markets, including France, Australia and the UK, the film is Paramount’s biggest live-action film.
Notably, this is the first film in Tom Cruise’s decades-long career to earn a billion dollars.
It is also notable that Maverick eclipsed Titanic as Paramount’s highest domestic grossing film of all time.
The movie was originally supposed to be released in June 2020, but Paramount pushed the release back until more fans were able to return after the pandemic lockdowns.
The latest iteration of the project, which follows Cruise as he reprises his role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell from the 1986 classic, also earned the star his $100 million opening weekend.
Top Gun: Maverick focuses on the relationship between Maverick and his dead best friend’s son, Goose.
Fans gave it a rare A+ rating on CinemaScore.