The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Joseph Kosinski's hotly-awaited Top Gun: Maverick is currently on track to have the biggest opening weekend of Tom Cruise's illustrious forty-year plus career, with the studio estimating a $92 million launch over the extended Memorial Day holiday.
However, box office experts are quite a bit more bullish on the movie's prospects, and are actually predicting a domestic debut somewhere in the $100 million to $125 million range, which would be an absolutely phenomenal start for the critically-acclaimed sequel. Globally, it could exceed $180 million total.
Maverick also on pace to become Cruise's top pre-seller on Fandango, besting Mission: Impossible - Fallout, so those figures could ultimately get much higher by Monday. Either way, it should easily top the $64.8 million opening of 2005's War of the Worlds to give Cruise the biggest opening weekend of his career.
Cruise films also tend to have long legs at the global box office, so with the traditional theatrical window still in place, it seems like a safe bet that Paramount will have good returns until the end of the summer.
In our review, we said, "Top Gun: Maverick is the must-see cinematic experience of the year! Packed with jaw-dropping aerial sequences, thrilling edge-of-your-seat moments, genuine heart, epic romance, huge stakes, and one of the absolute best performances of Tom Cruise's legendary career, this is the theatrical experience you've been waiting for."
Also, according to a survey of more than 2,000 “Top Gun: Maverick” moviegoers on Fandango:
- 98% are excited to see the cutting-edge innovation in the film’s flight sequences.
- 85% say Tom Cruise’s return to the big screen as Maverick is a main reason to see the movie.
- 73% love to quote their favorite line from the movie (“I feel the need…the need for speed”).
- 68% have been anticipating this movie since its original 2019 release date.
- 67% are excited to see the return of Val Kilmer in the movie.
Plus, Cruise appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden yesterday and we have the full video from his hilarious remote segment below:
Cruise, who will reprise his iconic role as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, is joined by original co-star Val Kilmer as Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, with an all-star supporting cast consisting of Jennifer Connelly as Penny Benjamin, Miles Teller as Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, Jon Hamm as Vice Admiral Cyclone, Glen Powell as Hangman, Lewis Pullman as Bob, Ed Harris as Rear Admiral, Monica Barbaro as Phoenix, Charles Parnell as Rear Admiral Warlock, Danny Ramirez as Fanboy, Manny Jacinto as Fritz, Bashir Salahuddin as Coleman, Jay Ellis as Payback, Jake Picking in an undisclosed role, Raymond Lee in an undisclosed role, Lyliana Wray as Amelia Benjamin, Jean Louisa Kelly as Carole Bradshaw, Greg Davis as Coyote, and Bob Stephenson in an undisclosed role.
Top Gun: Maverick jets into theaters on May 27, with exclusive Early Access screenings beginning on Top Gun Tuesday, May 24.
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.”
Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.