LOS ANGELES, May 29 (Variety.com) – Tom Cruise may have performed one of the boldest stunts of his career – to get audiences to go to the movies for something that doesn’t involve superheroes.
Top Gun: Maverick sold blockbuster tickets in its first weekend, raising $ 134 million from a record 4,732 North American theaters. Paramount and Skydance’s all-American action adventure is expected to raise $ 151 million by Monday, contrary to expectations, while setting a new high point for the opening of Remembrance Day over the weekend. It’s thanks to dazzling reviews, huge doses of nostalgia and Cruise’s return to the cockpit to perform real aerial stunts like pilot Pete Maverick Mitchell.
Top Gun: Maverick is the highest-grossing debut of Cruz’s 40-year career and his first to top $ 100 million in the first weekend. The War of the Worlds, which opened $ 64 million in 2005, was previously Cruise’s biggest opening weekend.
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Audiences over the age of 40, the people who were on top of their minds when Paramount highlighted the 1986 sequel to Top Gun, proved to be a force to be reckoned with, which is impressive because this demographic was most reluctant to return to theaters. The positive word of the film should be useful for reaching the younger audience, which was not alive when “Top Gun” opened its doors 36 years ago.
David A. Gross, who runs the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, called the three-day figure in the film “outstanding.”
“The source material remains strong, the performance is excellent and Tom Cruise makes it work flawlessly,” he said.
“Top Gun: Maverick” continues a series of stellar box office for Paramount, marking the studio’s fifth film this year, which opens in first place. Without the help of comics or raging dinosaurs, the studio’s plan for 2022 – also consists of “Sonic the Hedgehog” ($ 182 million in North America), “Lost City” ($ 100 million in North America), “Scream” ($ 81 million in North America) and “Jackass Forever” ($ 57 million in North America) – have a great response in theaters. This is an impressive rebound, as Paramount made almost no films during the pandemic, instead sending major titles such as Chris Pratt’s “The Tomorrow War,” Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Coming 2 America.” Eddie Murphy to streaming services.
American actor Tom Cruise arrives at the premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick” in London, UK, May 19, 2022. REUTERS / Henry Nichols / File photo
Despite countless delays (the sequel to “Top Gun” was due out in the summer of 2020, until COVID-19 thwarted those plans), Cruz was adamant that “Maverick” would not follow in the footsteps of these films. The two-year wait has already begun to pay off, as the film has been enthusiastically reviewed. There are 97% of Rotten Tomatoes and “A +” CinemaScore.
Joseph Kosinski directed PG-13 “Top Gun: Maverick,” which began decades after the original and saw Maverick train a new group of arrogant pilots for a crucial task. The cast includes Miles Teller, Glen Powell, John Ham, Jennifer Connelly and Val Kilmer, who played Eisman in the first “Top Gun”.
Top Gun: Maverick also needs cinemas to justify its huge production budget of $ 170 million, which does not include the tens of millions spent on promoting the film to audiences around the world. These efforts include an exciting premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, culminating in eight fighter jets flying over the Croisette (the French government paid for them). Skydance Media co-produced and co-financed the film.
Only one movie, Disney and 20th Century’s The Bob’s Burgers Movie, was brave enough to start against Top Gun: Maverick. For a film based on a long-running animated television show, “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” grossed an impressive $ 12 million out of 3,425 seats, enough for third place in the box office charts. The film is set to end Remembrance Day with $ 15.3 million.
“The Bob’s Burgers Movie” landed right behind “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which dropped to No. 2 after three weeks at the top of the local box office charts. Disney’s latest Marvel Cinematic Universe installment fell 50 percent to add $ 16 million from 3,805 theaters on its fourth weekend. The sequel to the superhero, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, has generated $ 375 million to date.
Number 4 “Downton Abbey: A New Era” fell 63% since its opening, raising $ 5.9 million between Friday and Sunday. It is estimated to earn $ 7.5 million from 3,830 theaters by Monday. After two weeks in theaters, the sequel to the big-screen sequel to Britain’s favorite television show has grossed $ 30 million in North America and $ 68.9 million worldwide. The production of the next film cost 40 million dollars, which means that the latest adventure “Downton” must go before it goes black.
The animated comedy for theft of Universal “The Bad Guys” finished in the top five with $ 4.6 million out of 2,944 seats. By Monday, the family-friendly film should have grossed $ 6.1 million, up from $ 82 million.
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