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Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the 1980s classic, recorded one of the best opening weekend debuts in recent years in U.S. theaters by grossing $160 million, the best debut in Tom Cruise’s career.
The good performance of the film, which was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, has been supported by excellent reviews and a strategic release date: the weekend on which the United States celebrated Memorial Day, with Monday as a national holiday.
Thus, in just four days and adding the grosses in other markets, the Paramount+ studio has managed to recover its investment of more than 170 million in the film, starring Cruise and directed by architect Joseph Kosinski (TRON: Legacy).
The sequel, which comes 36 years after the original film’s release, has far surpassed the 1986 release of Top Gun, which only grossed $8 million in its first weekend, according to Box Office Mojo records.
Action and superhero franchises have proven to be the infallible remedy for movie theaters, which have been deeply affected by the pandemic shutdown.
So far this year, Top Gun: Maverick is the fourth-best opening, behind Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260 million), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($187 million), and The Batman ($134 million on a normal weekend).
The rest of the U.S. weekend box office was dominated by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($20 million in its fourth week), The Bob’s Burgers Movie ($14 million in its opening), Downton Abbey: A New Era ($7 million in its second week) and The Bad Guys ($5 million in its sixth week).
