Film producer Bruckheimer in 3-year deal with Paramount

[December 07, 2013]  (Reuters) — ^"Pirates of the Caribbean" producer Jerry Bruckheimer has reached a three-year deal that gives Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures first-look rights for his films, months after the filmmaker and Walt Disney Co ended a two-decade partnership.

The deal starts in April 2014, the studio and Bruckheimer said in a statement released on Friday. No terms were announced.

Bruckheimer partnered with Don Simpson in the 1980s to produce hits for Paramount such as "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Top Gun," two of the studio's 30 highest-grossing movies of all time, according to the Box Office Mojo website.

In the 1990s, Bruckheimer started a long-running partnership with Disney that produced 27 films including the blockbuster "Pirates" franchise and summer 2013 big-budget mega-flop "The Lone Ranger." Disney and Bruckheimer announced in September they were ending their deal, though the producer will still work on a new "Pirates" film and a "National Treasure" sequel for Disney.

Bruckheimer's next movie for Paramount is expected to be a sequel to "Beverly Hills Cop," with Eddie Murphy, the statement said. He also plans to produce "Top Gun 2" starring Tom Cruise.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; editing by Richard Chang)

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