That not only jets past expectations, which initially projected “Maverick” to make closer to $80 million, but stands as Cruise’s biggest opening weekend in his more than 40-year career. It’s Cruise’s first $100 million opening weekend and the third biggest debut of the year.
Paramount said that “Maverick” is projected to make $151 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend at the US box office. If the sequel, which has Cruise’s Maverick teaching a new group of Top Gun pilots, lands at that number Monday, it’ll be one of the highest openings ever for a Memorial Day weekend.
Globally the film has earned $248 million so far, according to Paramount, which said that 55% of the US total came from ticket buyers over age 35.
That strategy paid off, and demonstrates that the big screen experience still matters to a large swath of consumers.
The other good news for “Maverick” is that it could have legs at the box office in the weeks to come. The film garnered a perfect “A+” CinemaScore and has relatively no competition at the box office until “Jurassic World: Dominion” opens in two weeks.
“‘Top Gun: Maverick’ has a clear runway,” Dergarabedian added. “By the time ‘Jurassic’ hits theaters, [‘Maverick’] will likely have already generated blockbuster numbers. It should enjoy a solid playability in theaters for the rest of the summer.”
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