The sequel to the 1986 blockbuster, which brings Tom Cruise back to his most iconic role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, grossed about $ 124 million nationally over the three-day opening weekend. according to Paramount.
Not only does this exceed expectations, which were initially projected that “Maverick” would earn more than $ 80 million, but it becomes Cruise’s most opening opening weekend in its more than 40-year career. It’s the first $ 100 million Cruise opening weekend and the third biggest debut of the year.
Paramount said “Maverick” is expected to earn $ 151 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend at the U.S. box office. If the sequel, which has Cruise’s Maverick teaching a new group of Top Gun pilots, reaches that number on Monday, it will be one of the highest openings ever for a Memorial Day weekend.
Globally, the film has grossed $ 248 million so far, according to Paramount, which said 55% of the U.S. total came from ticket buyers over the age of 35.
“Maverick” had a lot of buzz this weekend with great anticipation and even higher reviews at 97% on the Rotten Tomatoes review site. So the big weekend is a win for Cruise, Paramount (PGRE) and especially the cinemas. “Maverick” was supposed to hit theaters in 2020, but was delayed several times due to the pandemic. Other theatrical films became streaming, but “Maverick” waited until the audience could experience it on the big screen, a strategy on which Cruise was adamant.
This strategy paid off and demonstrates that the big screen experience still matters to a large portion of consumers.
“Top Gun: Maverick’s stellar performance marks a major turning point,” Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore (SCOR), told CNN Business. “This is a very important weekend for both the industry and Cruise, which has demonstrated its undeniable stellar power and status as a true movie star at a time when this kind of distinction has been made. increasingly rare “.
The other good news for “Maverick” is that he could have his feet at the box office in the coming weeks. The film got a perfect “A +” CinemaScore and has relatively no box office competition until “Jurassic World: Dominion” is released in two weeks.
“Top Gun: Maverick has a clear lead,” Dergarabedian added. “When ‘Jurassic’ hits theaters, [‘Maverick’] it has probably already generated highly successful numbers. I should enjoy solid gameplay in theaters for the rest of the summer. “