Tom Cruise's 'Top Gun: Maverick' has a $100 million opening weekend
Key Takeaways:
- The long-awaited sequel made an estimated $124 million in its first three days in North American theatres, according to Paramount Pictures.
- Even though he hasn't broken the sound barrier, Tom Cruise has reached a major professional milestone.
Tom Cruise has just passed a big professional milestone, even if he hasn't broken the sound barrier.
The 59-year-old legend has achieved his first $100 million opening weekend with "Top Gun: Maverick." According to Paramount Pictures, the long-awaited sequel grossed an expected $124 million in its first three days in North American theatres. It has grossed $248 million worldwide, including showings in other countries.
It's a wonderful start for a film that still relies on the wide-open skies of Memorial Day to make money. According to projections and predictions, "Top Gun: Maverick" will gross and over $150 million by Monday's close.
Cruise, despite being unquestionably one of the world's biggest stars — and, according to some headlines, "the last movie star" — isn't known for large blockbuster debuts.
Before "Maverick," his biggest domestic premiere was in 2005, when Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" garnered $64 million in its first weekend. With $61 million, "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" came second in 2018. It's not that his films aren't beneficial in the long run; they just aren't as heavily frontloaded.
The sequel to Tony Scott's 1986 blockbuster "Top Gun" was supposed to be in theatres in 2020. The epidemic derailed that plan, causing it to be repeatedly postponed. The sequel was filmed by Joseph Kosinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, as well as co-produced and co-financed by Skydance for a reported $152 million budget.
However, as the months or years went by, and many other studios chose hybrid releases, Cruise as well as Paramount remained adamant in their desire for a massive theatrical release. Making a streaming debut was impossible.
"That was never going to happen," Cruise said in Cannes.
And it's a big deal, with 4,735 theatres across North America showing "Top Gun: Maverick" (a new high). It was also launched at 23,600 locations in 62 countries. The build-up has been just as flashy, with fighter-jet-adorned appearances on an aircraft carrier in San Diego and at the Cannes Film Festival, where Cruise was also given an honorary Palme d'Or, as well as a royal premiere in London attended by Prince William and his wife, Kate.
The movie has also received rave reviews, with a 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. As per exit surveys, 58 percent of male audiences gave it an A+ CinemaScore.
Miles Teller, Greg Tarzan Davis, Danny Ramirez, Lewis Pullman, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, and Jay Ellis star in the new film Maverick, who returns to the elite aviation training program to train the next generation of fliers. Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer, and Jon Hamm reprise their roles from the original.
"Maverick" is now one of the top pandemic period openings, which are still dominated by $260 million for "Spider-Man: No Way Home," $187 million for "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," as well as $134 million for "The Batman."