As the film scores up rave reviews, Tom Cruise returns to lead the cast of the long-gestating action sequel alongside fellow co-star Val Kilmer reprising his role as Iceman. Top Gun: Maverick also includes franchise newcomers Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Danny Ramirez, Lewis Pullman and Ed Harris, amongst others.
Top Gun: Maverick picks up 36 years after the original film as Cruise's titular test pilot is nearing the end of his career as the Navy works to ground him and work toward instituting drones. Maverick finds himself given another chance to get in the pilot's seat as he's ordered back to Top Gun to train a group of young fighter pilots, including the son of his late best friend Goose, for a dangerous new mission unlike any other. Helmed by Joseph Kosinski, Top Gun: Maverick has received critical acclaim and isn't letting the success stop there.
As the three-day weekend comes to a close, Deadline has brought word that Top Gun: Maverick is breaking a variety of records in its opening weekend. The Tom Cruise-led sequel has $156 million in its 4-day opening weekend, setting the Memorial Day record and beating out Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End's previous record of $153 million. This final tally puts Top Gun: Maverick far above various pre-release estimates, which ranged from $80-130 million.
Prior to the closing numbers, Top Gun: Maverick had already set a major box office record by becoming Tom Cruise's biggest opening weekend yet and the first to clear the $100 million mark. Additionally, Top Gun: Maverick earned the first A+ rating on CinemaScore of 2022 and sits as one of Cruise's best-reviewed films, falling just shy of Mission: Impossible — Fallout's 97 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes with its 96 percent approval rating. It has, however, beat Cruise's fellow franchise sequel with its audience rating of 99 percent approval on the review aggregate site.
Top Gun: Maverick's massive box office debut not only speaks to its success as a rare legacy sequel that delivers, but also to Cruise's efforts to keep the film as a theatrical release. Unlike Christopher Nolan's push for Tenet to hit theaters while still in the early days of the COVID pandemic instead of delaying it, Cruise elected to use his sway at Paramount Pictures to keep pushing the long-awaited sequel back until a time audiences could see it safely and help carry it to the box office success it's currently enjoying. With Jurassic World Dominion still two weeks away, it will be interesting to see how far Top Gun: Maverick's box office domination will go before its next blockbuster competition.
Source: Deadline
