LOS ANGELES — Tony Scott is gone, but his blockbuster film “Top Gun” may yet provide him with one of his bigger movie moments.

Since Mr. Scott committed suicide on Aug. 19, executives at Paramount Pictures have been quietly debating what to do with a 3-D version of “Top Gun,” the 1986 film that was directed by Mr. Scott and featured Tom Cruise as the Navy fighter pilot Maverick, a role that made him an international superstar.

Completed earlier this year by Legend3D, which specializes in converting conventional 2-D film, the three-dimensional “Top Gun” had been seen as a way to whet the world’s appetite for a sequel that was being planned by Mr. Scott, Mr. Cruise and the producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

But now the sequel has fallen apart. And Paramount and its partners are left with a 3-D film that might be perceived by moviegoers as a tribute to a director whose death remains a mystery to many friends and associates. It might also become a final box-office triumph — but only if the studio can reach the audience without seeming insensitive or exploitative.