Tom Cruise’s latest and most anticipated movie, Top Gun 2, having a run time of 131 minutes, has absolutely dominated the box office this weekend. On the day of its release, Top Gun 2 has bagged a whopping $51.8 million at the box office, becoming the second biggest “Friday” gross for a Memorial Day Weekend Opener. This amount includes a $19.26 million collection in pre-release previews, which is a record for Paramount and Memorial Day Weekend in itself. Given its current rate of success, we expect that the Tom Cruise starrer will gather a total above $153 million in its 3-day collection.
Before the release of Top Gun: Maverick, the actor’s biggest opening weekend collection was $65 million for war o the Worlds and $62 million for Mission Impossible: Fallout. The three-time Oscar nominee is out here breaking his own records, one after the other.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski and written by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren, and Christopher McQuarrie, the movie went into development back in 2010. Paramount Productions had initially approached the original director of the 1986 Top Gun, Tony Scott. However, following his untimely demise, the team had to put things on hold and recoup. In 2017, Kosinski got on board, and the film officially went into production.
This was not it for the popular action movie’s sequel, since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the release date for the movie by a couple of years. A movie as highly anticipated and high budgeted as this could not be released mid pandemic. Nonetheless, now that the pandemic has come to a rest, the movie is finally available for cinema-goers to watch.
Top Gun 2 Promotions
Promotions for the movie play a vital role in the success of any movie. Paramount has long been preparing for this, and when the time came, it truly delivered. The cast and crew have been on a global promotional tour with a marketing plan so impressive, that even opponent production houses couldn’t help but praise it. The Top Gun 2 team started its global tour with a CinemaCon preview at Las Vagas. Those who saw the movie were quick to recognize it as a major contender during the award season.
The next stop was the naval base at San Diego, followed by a major appearance at the Cannes Film Festival that recently took place. At Cannes, Tom Cruise gave a masterclass and had a surprise Palme d’Or while French fighter jets flew overhead the Palais premiere. This was followed by a London Royal premiere and a Tokyo premiere.
Taking Over Cinemas
The movie was screened in 4,727 movie theaters across the US and Canada. This makes it the most widespread screening ever. Prior to this, the most vast screening was for The Lion King (2019) across 4,725 theaters, Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness (2022) across 4,534 locations, and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) across 4,336 locations. With 62 countries screening the sequel to Top Gun at over 23,600 locations globally, this movie is surely turning out to be Cruise’s biggest hit yet.
As expected, the Kosinski directorial is turning out to be an absolute hit amongst audiences and critics alike. Having garnered an 8.7 out of 10 rating on IMDb and a 97% rating on rotten Tomatoes, the movie is truly a must-watch. Many critics who have seen the movie are all praised for its unmatched storyline, direction, and acting.
Famous critic James Berardinelli has gone as far as saying,
“Top Gun: Maverick is one of those rare breeds: a sequel that’s better than the original.”
Now that is one heck of a compliment.
General Audience for Top Gun 2
Prior to the release of this blockbuster, there was a major fear regarding whether the older population would put aside the COVID-19 risk and make their way to cinemas or not. The original Top Gun was so successful that it practically became a legacy. As trends show, sequels to legacy movies usually bode well and attract a majority of their original audience back to the movie screens.
The numbers are in, and judging by them, much of the older audience is heading to watch the movie. 45% of the audience is above 45 years, and 21% is over 55 years of age. A major concern that is arising is whether this movie will draw in the younger generation, much like the previous superhero movies released recently have.
Ever since the pandemic subsided, superhero movies have been dominating cinemas, not leaving much room for other genres. However, is Top Gun: Maverick on route to breaking this trend? With over 87% of the audience being 25 or above, we see that the movie is currently drawing in more of the adult population.
The children are still mostly drawn toward Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, which was released a few weeks prior. Nonetheless, as the reviews come in, experts believe that a large chunk of the younger generation will be compelled to watch the movie as well. Pretty sure everyone would want to know what all the hype is about.
Tom Cruise and Paramount: A Match made in Heaven?
Tom Cruise is truly turning out to be a money-making machine for Paramount Pictures, delivering blockbuster after blockbuster. Cruise’s last big hit, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, had a social media universe of 245.5M, which resulted in a $61M opening. To put things in perspective, this is only 60% of the reach that Top Gun: Maverick has had across various social media platforms.
Tom Cruise, with his impressive 40+ million Instagram following, has marketed the movie to a great extent through his socials as well. With Jennifer Connelly having close to 5M on social, Miles Teller 1M, Val Kilmer having 2.4M, and Glen Powell having 352K across all platforms, the cast has used social media as a major tool as well.
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