If he does board the project, Washington will need a new on-screen adversary. Hackman died in February at the age of 95. Tony Scott, the original director of “Crimson Tide,” and Robert Towne, one of its writers, have also died.

When it comes to the great Jerry Bruckheimer action films post the $1.49 billion grossing success of Top Gun: Maverick, most of them are game for a sequel, including one to the 1995 Tony Scott directed nuclear submarine thriller,

The original film, released in 1995, was hailed as one of Hackman's best performances, and the movie won five awards and received 14 nominations after it was released