The huge opening weekend of Paramount and Skydance Memorial Day for “Top Gun: Maverick” shows how much the public trusts Tom Cruise to continue offering at the box office, four decades after his career.
Why It’s Important: “It’s really unique,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore. “It has become this star of action movies in an age where stars are becoming harder to find.”
- This is the first film starring Cruise to debut with more than $ 65 million at the national box office.
- The film debuted 28% above Cruise’s latest big hit, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” in 2018.
According to the numbers: the expected sequel amounted to $ 124 million at the national box office until Sunday evening and $ 248 million worldwide.
- The film could kick off Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: End of the World” as the opening of Memorial Day with the best performance of all time if it gets enough tickets on Monday.
- The film’s older audience makes its massive debut even more notable. According to Paramount, approximately 55% of viewers in the film were over 35 years old. The first “Top Gun” movie was released in 1986.
- “Top Gun: Maverick” was released on more than 25,000 screens worldwide, making it the largest Paramount release in its history, according to Paramount.
Current status: The film has so far received favorable reviews from both consumers and critics, which means that repeat viewers are expected this weekend.
The big picture: Top Gun’s overwhelming debut means we’re “officially in the realm of constant momentum, or at least in the realm of box office normalcy,” Dergarabedian said.
Get up to date quickly: “Top Gun: Maverick” is the latest pandemic-era film to surpass $ 100 million at its national box office this weekend.
Be smart: Cruise has leaned more into action movies over the last decade with franchises like “Mission: Impossible” and “Jack Reacher.”
- Action movies are becoming more and more popular at the box office in the age of streaming.
What happens next: Looking ahead to the rest of the summer, Dergarabedian said a lot of action-packed movies are expected to work well, a hopeful signal for cinemas.
- “Lightyear,” Disney’s animated sci-fi film about the origins of Buzz Lightyear, will debut in June.
- “No,” Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror film, will be released in July.