Box Office: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Makes a Stratospheric $124 Million Debut

He says, “The source material is strong, the execution excellent, and Tom Cruise makes this work impeccably.”

Imax and 3D screens contributed to “Maverick”‘s higher grossing. 22% of total box office returns came from premium formats. Imax alone is expected to bring in $21 million domestically, and $32.5 million worldwide over the extended weekend.

Rich Gelfond, CEO of Imax, said that movies are not dead. “Go see Top Gun: Maverick and let me know your thoughts.” This film is the return of summer blockbusters and a catalyst for increasing moviegoing demand like the F-18 breaking the sound barrier. It’s impossible to sit in a theater with its huge screen and loud speakers and think there’s a better way to enjoy ‘Top Gun: Maverick‘. ‘”

Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” which is the fifth movie to open in the top spot this year, continues its stellar box-office streak. 

The studio’s 2022 slate, which also includes “Sonic the Hedgehog,” ($182 million in North America), and “The Lost City” (102 million in North America), as well as “Scream” ($81m in North America), and “Jackass Forever,” ($57m in North America), has been a huge success in theaters. This is a remarkable rebound considering Paramount did not release any movies during the pandemic. Instead, they sent big titles such as Chris Pratt’s “The Tomorrow War,” Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and Eddie Murphy’s “Coming 2 America” to streaming services.

Despite countless delays (the “Top Gun” sequel was scheduled to open in the summer of 2020 until COVID-19 scrambled those plans), Cruise was adamant that “Maverick” not follow in the footsteps of those straight-to-streaming films. Since the film’s rapturous reviews, it has already begun to pay off its two-year wait. It received a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and an uncommon “A+” CinemaScore.

Chris Aronson, Paramount’s domestic distributor chief, says that he is happy with the decision to keep the film on the big screen. “This movie will have a massive run. It will attract people who haven’t been in theaters for a while to see it.”

Joseph Kosinski directed “Top Gun: Maverick”, a PG-13 movie that picks up decades later than the original. It sees Maverick train a new team of cocky aviators to complete a critical assignment. Miles Teller, Glen Powell and Jon Hamm are among the cast. Val Kilmer played Iceman in “Top Gun”‘s first episode.

“Top Gun: Maverick,” which has a $170 million production budget, also requires theaters in order to be able to justify the millions of dollars spent on marketing the film to the world. These efforts included a spectacular premiere at Cannes Film Festival that culminated in eight fighter jets flying above the Croisette (the French government paid). Skydance Media produced and cofinanced the film.

Only one film, Disney’s 20th Century’s “The Bob’s Burgers Movie,” opened against “Top Gun: Maverick.” It took $12.6 million from 3,425 locations, enough to take third place in the box office charts. The movie, which has received a lot of praise, should end the Memorial Day weekend with $15 millions.

“The Bob’s Burgers Movie”, which landed behind “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness,” dropped to No. After three weeks at the top of domestic box office charts, it is now number 2. The latest Disney Marvel Cinematic Universe movie saw a 50% drop in sales to $16.5 million at 3,805 cinemas during its fourth weekend. The film is expected to reach $21.1 million in the span of four days. The sequel to the superhero movie, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch and has already generated $375 million in North America, and an incredible $868.7million worldwide.

No. No. 4, “Downton Abbey: A New Era”, plunged 63% since its opening and collected $5.9million between Friday and Sunday. It is expected to gross $7.5 million in 3,830 theaters by Monday. The sequel to the popular British TV show has already grossed $30M in North America and $68.9M worldwide in its first two weeks. Producing the sequel cost $40 million. This means that the “Downton” movie has a long way to go before it hits the big screen.

Universal’s animated comedy “The Bad Guys”, a heist comedy, raked in $4.6 million from 2,944 locations. The family-friendly film will make $82 million domestically by Monday. It should bring in $6.1million by Monday.

Expect “Top Gun Maverick”, which will continue flying high above the marquees of movie theaters, to be on time until “Jurassic World: Dominion”, June 10.