“Top Gun: Maverick” soared as the biggest opening of Memorial Day weekend by grossing an impressive $156 million at the domestic box office in its first four days of release.
Updated estimates from measurement firm Comscore released Monday push Paramount’s highly-anticipated “Top Gun” sequel beyond the previous Memorial Day record total set by Disney’s 2007 “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” The third film in the “Pirates” franchise earned $153 million over the extended holiday weekend.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, “Top Gun: Maverick” sees Tom Cruise return as his iconic Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell 36 years after he first wowed audiences in the original “Top Gun.” This time, Cruise’s Maverick returns to the Top Gun show as an instructor tasked with training the next generation of elite fighter pilots.
In his review, Times film critic Justin Chang described the film as “ridiculous and often ridiculously entertaining.”
“As a rare big-budget Hollywood movie about flying men and women without capes, the stakes are high,” Chang wrote of the film. “Once slated for a summer 2020 release but delayed nearly two years by the pandemic, it arrives with the hopes and dreams of a tentatively resurgent industry that could use a non-Marvel theatrical hit.”
Variety reported that roughly 55% of the film’s audience was 35 and older, indicating appeal to demographic groups that have been most reluctant to return to theaters.
“Top Gun: Maverick” has surpassed early box office expectations, which predicted the sequel would earn $130 million over the four-day weekend. The film also marks Cruise’s biggest domestic release in history. Overall, the estimated worldwide box office for “Maverick” is $252.7 million for its opening weekend.
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