Top Gun: Maverick Is The First Tom Cruise Film To Make $100 Million On Its Opening Weekend

thegamer.com:

Top Gun: Maverick has flown to a spectacular opening and provided ace movie star Tom Cruise his biggest box office opening of his career.

According to a report from Variety, Top Gun: Maverick grossed $124 million from “a record 4,732 North American cinemas,” and is expected to make $151 million through Monday. That’s just shy of the previous Memorial Day weekend record holder, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which launched to $153 million back in 2007. The Top Gun sequel made another $124 million internationally, which is an impressive feat given the fact it wasn’t shown in Russia and China.

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For Pete “Maverick” Mitchell actor Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick marks a new high point for his 40-year career. The film is now Cruise’s highest-domestic debut, beating out 2005’s War of the Worlds which opened to $64 million.

Given Cruise’s age and the source material, Top Gun’s target audience was those over the age of 40, with more than half of moviegoers falling into that age bracket according to Variety. That’s quite the turn-around for movie audiences in the pandemic age and shows Paramount’s continued success in navigating the troubled cinematic airways of 2022. Sonic the Hedgehog is now the fourth-highest video game movie of all time, and Lost City also debuted to $102 million domestically. Scream and Jackass Forever also had strong showings that were undoubtedly popular and profitable.

Top Gun: Maverick has now grossed $248 million worldwide, making it another success for Paramount after budgeting $170 million for production.

Surprisingly, Top Gun: Maverick isn't just a commercial success but also a critical one too. Rotten Tomatoes has Top Gun rated