Top Gun: Maverick has flown to the box office, amassing more than £ 196 million worldwide and securing the biggest premiere weekend in history for a Tom Cruise movie.
Amid post-pandemic unrest for the industry and fears that audiences will never return to cinemas in large numbers, the aftermath of the 1986 blockbuster grossed about £ 151 million (£ 119 million) in USA.
The American action adventure of Paramount and Skydance was being shown in a record 4,732 American cinemas, its results set a new watermark for Memorial Day opening weekends.
It follows a series of dazzling reviews of a nostalgic film in which Cruise returns to the cockpit to perform real aerial stunts like pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
Box office tickets make it the first $ 100 million premiere weekend of the 59-year-old superstar.
“These results are ridiculous and fantastic,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s national distribution president.
“I’m happy for everyone. I’m happy for the company, for Tom, for the filmmakers.”
While undeniably one of the world’s biggest stars, Cruise is not known for its big box office releases.
Before Maverick, his biggest national debut was Steven Spielberg’s War Of The Worlds, which opened for $ 64 million (£ 51 million) in 2005.
Image: Cruise plays Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell. Image: Paramount Pictures / Scott Garfield
Streaming debut “will never happen”
Top Gun: Maverick had an extremely long trip to the movies.
It was originally scheduled to open in the summer of 2020, with its marketing campaign technically launched in July 2019, but was delayed several times due to the pandemic.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the sequel cost $ 152 (£ 120 million).
Even as the years passed and many other companies chose to commit to hybrid releases, Cruise and Paramount did not stop moving in their desire for a major movie release, refusing to accept a debut. on a streaming site.
“That would never happen,” Cruise said at this month’s Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to the record number of American cinemas showing the film, it was also released in 23,600 locations around the world after what media analyst Paul Dergarabedian described as “one of the longest tracks for to a marketing campaign for any movie “.
The collection saw premieres adorned with fighter jets on an aircraft carrier in San Diego and Cannes, where Cruise also received an honorary Palme d’Or, and a royal premiere in London attended by Prince William and his wife. Kate.
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0:56 William and Kate go out with Tom Cruise
Maverick asserts himself against giant superheroes
The new film stars Cruise as Maverick, who returns to coach the next generation of pilots, including Miles Teller, Glen Powell and Monica Barbaro.
Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm and Val Kilmer, who reprise their role from the 1986 original, also star.
Maverick is among the top releases of the pandemic era, behind Spider-Man: No Way Home with $ 260 million (£ 206 million), Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness with $ 187 million (148 million) and The Batman with 134 million dollars (106 million pounds). )
In particular, Maverick is the only non-superhero film on this list, and it also attracted a wide range of age groups, with an estimated 55% of the audience over the age of 35.
Cruise will expect similar success with its upcoming films Mission: Impossible, which have been largely filmed in the UK and will be released in 2023 and 2024.