After a wait of 36 years, the sequel to Tom Cruise Top Gun: Maverick finally earned about $ 19.3 million in previews.
This is the highest-grossing preview in the history of Paramount Pictures and the highest-grossing Memorial Day preview in history; and of course the best for Cruise. The first projections for the weekend were $ 80 million to $ 100 million over four days, and a high octane start like this could easily propel Top Gun: Maverick to the Memorial’s best weekend opening Day, surpassing the $ 139.8 million 4-day 2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: The End of the World.
Without a doubt, Top Gun: Maverick is also looking to be the best opening of Tom Cruise’s career, easily leaving behind his $ 3.8 million 3-day War of the Worlds 2005.
Everything works for Top Gun 2: it’s the largest ever release in 4,735 theaters; has 5 out of 5 stars on ComScore / Screen Engine’s PostTrak with 96% positive and a huge final recommendation of 84%. PLF (31%) and Imax (21%) together accounted for 52% of previous ticket sales. Imax alone had $ 4.1 million in previews, the best ever for the exhibitor with a Paramount title, a Tom Cruise film and one of the top ten Imax results of all time. time.
Also juicing up for Top Gun 2 is a 97% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes after a month of boisterous global releases and a current audience score on RT of a staggering 99%.
Paramount’s previous big preview was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009 for $ 16 million, which was a Tuesday and resulted in a $ 62 million Wednesday (previews accounted for 25% of that figure ). Thursday’s best previews for a movie that premieres over Memorial Day weekend really belong to Disney’s Star Wars: A Solo Story, which grossed $ 14.1 million but only accounted for 40% of the first Friday’s $ 35.3 million. That film was criticized by fans and still resulted in a $ 103 million 4-day vacation opening.
Thursday previews started at 3pm for the Paramount / Skydance feature. In addition, there was also a “Top Gun” Tuesday with premium large format screens, Imax and Dolby opening their curtains at 7pm. The above figure is Tuesday and Thursday ticket sales.
Top Gun: Maverick breaks Cruise’s previous Thursday preview record, which was $ 6 million in Mission: Impossible – Fallout 2018.
Top Gun: Maverick means a little more for exhibition and studies in general: out of the older guys who attend, it always attracts Cruise (Fallout got 41% of men over 25), the hope is that this sequel will be wide, from under 25 to Cruise. female fans who hung their posters in their rooms during the 1980s. Last night saw an unweighted turnout of 57% of boys to 43% of girls. Fallout Thursday night accounted for 26% of its first day on Friday of $ 22.8 million before earning $ 61.2 million.
20th Century Studios / Disney’s The Bob’s Burgers grossed $ 1.5 million in previews of shows that began at 5 p.m. The photo is 86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a current audience score of 96%. A four-day launch of between $ 10 million and $ 14 million is expected at 3,425 US / Canada locations.
Among yesterday’s regular films, Disney / Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness earned $ 2.4 million in 4,534 theaters, up -14% as of Wednesday for a total of three consecutive weeks of 354 , $ 4 million.
Downton Abbey: A New Era Focus Features took second place with $ 1.3 million, up -11% as of Wednesday for a $ 22.6 million take in the first week at 3,820 locations.
The Bad Guys of Universal / DreamWorks Animation came in third yesterday with $ 576,000, + 1%, in 3,705 places and a five-week total of $ 76.7 million.
A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once reserved for 1,576 posted a ninth Thursday of $ 426,000, -16%, and a current rise of $ 54.3 million.
Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 grossed about $ 330,000, -4%, at $ 2,943 for a seven-week total of $ 182.6 million.