Photo: Military
Top Gun: Maverick is on the rise.
The 1986 hit film’s sequel, in which Tom Cruise returns the popular character of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, has garnered over $1 billion at the global box office, Paramount said.
The new installment for the Top Gun franchise has passed the billion-dollar achievement, making it one of Cruise’s most successful films. It also holds second place for Paramount behind 1997’s Titanic.
In addition, Maverick reached the box office figures in an old-fashioned way – it broke records at its opening on Memorial Day weekend and has not stopped climbing since.
“It’s rare to get the special kind of alchemy that creates a true event film, and we have been absolutely blown away by the global response,” said the President and CEO of Paramount Pictures, Brian Robbins, in a statement.
Maverick has gathered massive word of mouth, and viewers – particularly those over 35 – have majorly contributed to the traction of this film.
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The film’s success has been unprecedented. With a $1 billion haul at the worldwide box office, Maverick is now just behind Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“For any film to join the $1 billion club is a monumental achievement,” Comscor’s senior media analyst, Paul Dergarabedian, in an interview with CNN Business. “But Top Gun: Maverick hitting $1 billion during the pandemic is a bit different.”
He continued, “It was the perfect movie at the perfect time because it starred one of Hollywood’s last movie stars, in a movie that delivered on all fronts to all audiences around the world.”
Critics have given outpouring compliments for the film. The film, in which Maverick comes back to teach a new generation of pilots how to execute a nearly impossible mission, has an almost perfect score – at 97% – on Rotten Tomatoes, a review site.
Maverick earned over $520 million domestically and over $468 million worldwide. It is the 50th movie in history to garner over $1 billion at the worldwide box office – not including the inflation.
During the weekend, Maverick sat at the No. 2 rank at the domestic box office in its fifth weekend, earning $29.6 million.
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Opinions expressed by Artist Weekly contributors are their own.
