Top Gun: Maverick ($1.5 Billion Worldwide Box Office)

Paramount/Skydance’s Top Gun: Maverick has beaten Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End fair and square for the Memorial Day opening 4-day record (+ previews) at the domestic box office with $156M. While easily Tom Cruise’s best opening of all-time, producer Jerry Bruckheimer is the common denominator of the two largest Memorial Day weekend openings at the domestic box office.

At World’s End’s four-day holiday opening of $139.8M was further puffed by Thursday previews which got that third Pirates to a $153M stateside start, a Memorial Day record Disney held for the last 15 years. No more, those bragging rights go to Paramount now. Over the weekend, debate raged on as to whether those $13.2M At World’s End previews (which reportedly started at 8PM) should be included in that pic’s 4-day opening; that gross was recorded at a time before studios began rolling previews into their weekend openings. Forever, Box Office Mojo and Comscore showed At World’s End with a 4-day start of $139.8M. Mojo separated out that $13.2M At World’s End previews into a separate Thursday opening day, while Comscore rolled that amount into At World’s End’s seven-day gross — not its opening, capisce? However, given how previews have been included in these blockbuster openings of late, it only made sense to measure this race by an apples-to-apples slide rule.

Top Gun: Maverick made $36.7M yesterday, -3% from its $38M Saturday. The three-day stands at $126.7M, which is still second best among Friday-Sunday starts for Paramount after Iron Man 2 ($128.1M).

EntTelligence reports that 11.6M moviegoers have seen Top Gun 2 to date, which is third biggest attendance during the pandemic era (since Q2 2020) after Spider-Man: No Way Home (20.6M) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (14M) for an opening weekend.

Speaking of Paramount, that studio is on a dynamite upswing this year. Top Gun 2 is the studio’s 5th No. 1 opening of 2022 after Scream, Jackass Forever, The Lost City and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, a slate built on robust diversity of winning product. Not a lot of studios can exclaim that (sorry, Universal. Despite all your smart co-financing, your diverse product outside of Bad Guys, hasn’t been winning). With Top Gun 2, Paramount flies to $585M for 2022, which will make it the No. 1 studio at the domestic box office.

Many know that Top Gun 2 was put into the Paramount pipeline during the Jim G era, however, we need to raise a glass to Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins for not falling prey to the industry’s seduction of streaming, and taking what was always a prized tentpole and going day-and-date with it on Paramount+. Waiting is everything, and the hopscotching of Top Gun 2 around the calendar –at one point Independence Day 2021, then Thanksgiving last year, and then now– has truly paid off. The Tom Cruise sequel was always meant to be paired with the hot weather season and barbeque. It’s a lesson to all you major studios inebriated on streaming that theatrical is king and such assets for the big screen should be protected. Now, Paramount has a major franchise they can move forward on. Bruckheimer tells Deadline this morning that a third film isn’t being discussed yet, “we’re enjoying this one; let’s ride this wave.” However, it’s a no-brainer that Paramount wants a third Top Gun film.

Speaking of the flyover states success here on Top Gun 2, Midwest chain B&B Theatres dropped Deadline a note that their 513-plus screen chain overperformed by 47% on Top Gun 2. Not all chains can claim that from the data Deadline has seen; i.e. AMC, despite being tops for the weekend). Regal Theaters overperformed with Top Gun 2 by 14%. As studios wonder how to build and rally with a slate of product outside of tentpole movies appealing to various demos, they should recognize the potential and underserved nature of the red state crowd. Top Gun 2 is arguably the first red state movie since 2014’s American Sniper to propel older audiences, who typically don’t go to the movies in these parts of the country, to attend. There was a point in time, before the explosion of the offshore marketplace, and the 1980s blockbuster era, that all Hollywood did was make movies for audiences between NY and LA, i.e. Smokey and the Bandit ($126.7M), American Graffiti ($115M), Every Which Way But Loose ($85.1M), Coal Miner’s Daughter ($67M), even 1982’s An Officer and a Gentleman (near $130M). While that audience is older, their tastes have been passed on to younger generations.

The march for Top Gun 2 began all the way back at July 2019 San Diego Comic Con. As Deadline first told you, that’s when Cruise made a surprise appearance in Hall H after the Terminator: Dark Fate panel. The first teaser was also dropped at SDCC. San Diego was of utmost importance given the franchise’s naval base setting. Those exhibitors and press who attended CinemaCon last August got to see the pic’s first 20 minutes. This past April, CinemaCon got to see the Kosinski directed movie for the first time before its San Diego premiere, and Cannes, Royal London and Tokyo galas.

Other marketing highlights included Cruise’s custom intro for the NFL AFC Championship on CBS. Select brand partnerships included Applebee’s with a national TV, digital, and radio campaign with takeovers in 1600+ restaurants; Microsoft Flight Simulator launched a DLC and XBox created custom movie-themed consoles; JetSuite X wrapped a plane with Top Gun branding used to fly talent and influencers to the SDCC global junket and premiere; Porsche had a co-branded spot in the Super Bowl and sponsored a Need for Speed influencer event at their test track and Coca-Cola activated an in-theatre promotion around the globe.

Paramount Pictures and Interscope debuted two original songs and music videos from the soundtrack in the lead up to release including Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” and One Republic’s “I Ain’t Worried”.

‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Flies By $800M Worldwide; Becomes Tom Cruise’s Biggest Movie Ever

Paramount/Skydance’s Top Gun: Maverick has buzzed yet another box office milestone, this time flying past $800M globally. The worldwide cume through Thursday is $806.4M, including $422.2M domestic and $384.2M from the international box office.

This makes the sequel Tom Cruise’s biggest movie ever worldwide, surpassing Mission: Impossible – Fallout ($791.1M WW). This has also happened in just 21 days of theatrical release. Already in that time, Maverick is Paramount’s second highest grossing release ever.

Internationally, Maverick is now the biggest Cruise movie in 23 markets, including the UK, Australia and Brazil. It is also Paramount Pictures’ biggest live-action title in 15 markets, including the UK, Australia, France and Brazil.

As I wrote on Sunday, this phenomenon has every shot at topping $1B worldwide. The film still has Korea, a big Cruise market, to launch next week. He’s headed there to personally introduce it to fans.

What’s even more impressive about the movie that puts Cruise back in the cockpit where he first catapulted to global action stardom, is that it is reaching these stratospheric heights without China or Russia in the mix. And, it’s pulling in “older” audiences.

To recap, at release in late May, the Joseph Kosinski-directed Maverick lit the fires with Cruise’s biggest overseas and domestic debuts.

Offshore, TGM has had amazing holds, down in its sophomore frame an unprecedented 16%; last session it fell just 39% despite the arrival of Jurassic World Dominion and the loss of IMAX screens.

Earlier this week, Anthony reported that Maverick crossed $400M in North America to easily become the highest grossing movie of the year to date, and the second highest-grossing movie of the pandemic after Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($804.7M).

Rusty wrote:

Finally get to watch this. Hits Paramount+ on the 22nd.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Tom is so cool! Is this what I need to do? Do I have to be an adrenaline junkie to look as good as he does for his age? I'm afraid of heights but he makes it look easy.

Praise Xenu!

WyldeMan wrote:Tom is blessed by Xenu, countless beautiful women have been sacrificed to provide the energy needed to maintain his youthful appearance and adrenaline levels.

Praise Xenu!