Forget breaking the sound barrier:
The 59-year-old superstar just got his first
It’s a supersonic start for a film that still has the wide-open skies of
“These results are ridiculously, over-the-top fantastic,” said
Though undeniably one of the biggest stars in the world — perhaps even “the last movie star,” according to various headlines — Cruise is not known for massive blockbuster openings.
Before “Maverick,” his biggest domestic debut was in 2005, with Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds,” which opened to
“Top Gun: Maverick” had an extremely long journey to get to the theaters. The sequel to the late
But even as the months, and years, went by and many other companies chose to compromise on hybrid releases, Cruise and
“That was never going to happen," Cruise said in
And it is major, with 4,735 North American theaters (a record) showing “Top Gun: Maverick.” It also opened in 23,600 locations in 62 international markets.
“This is one of the longest runways for a marketing campaign for any film ever. And it only served to create more excitement around the movie,” said
The build up has been just as flashy, with fighter-jet-adorned premieres on an aircraft carrier in
“The feeling you get when you watch this film with an audience, it’s pretty special,” Aronson said. “The first big screening we had, there was spontaneous applause during the movie.”
Reviews have been stellar, too, with the film notching a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, who were 58% male, gave it an A+ CinemaScore, according to exit polls.
The new film has Cruise reprising the role of Maverick, who returns to the elite aviation training program to train the next generation of flyers, including
“This solidifies the notion that the movie theater is a singular and a vitally important outlet for people,” Dergarabedian said. “People are looking for a great escape from everything that’s going on in the world right now.”
“Maverick” is now among the top pandemic era openings, still led by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with
Notably, “Top Gun: Maverick” is the only non-superhero movie in the bunch. It also attracted a wide swath of age groups to the theater. An estimated 55% of the audience was over 35.
“Superhero movies aren’t for everybody. This movie is for everyone and that’s what sets it apart," Aronson said. “The theatrical exhibition business has challenges ahead of it, but this is a shot in the arm for that.”
“The Bob’s Burgers Movie” was the only new release that dared go up against “Top Gun.” Released by 20th
“Top Gun” will continue to essentially have the skies to itself until “Jurassic World: Dominion” opens on
“It has a really nice, open marketplace to play,” Dergarabedian said. “Tom Cruise has always been about consistency. His movies are about the marathon. This is the first movie of his that is sprinting to big box office numbers. Here, he gets the sprint and the marathon.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at
1. “Top Gun: Maverick,”
2. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,”
3. “The Bob’s Burgers Movie,”
4. “Downton Abbey: A New Era,”
5. “The Bad Guys,”
6. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,”
7. “Everything Everywhere All At Once,”
8. “The Lost City,”
9. “Men,”
10. “F3: Fun and Frustration,”
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