"Top Gun: Maverick" finds Tom Cruise called back into service by a rattled Navy. A new threat has emerged, one that a younger generation of pilots can't crack on its own.
This job requires a battle-tested veteran.
It was a similar scenario in real life last weekend, as Hollywood -- still struggling to jolt moviegoing out of its pandemic slumber -- looked to "Top Gun: Maverick," a sequel to a 36-year-old film, and Cruise, perhaps the last old-fashioned movie star, for a solution. The result was a defining moment for the film industry's box office recovery, analysts said. "Top Gun: Maverick" soared to the highest-ever Memorial Day weekend opening. The film brought in ticket sales of $160.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, producer Paramount Pictures said, beating the old record held by the 2007 film "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End."
Overall, "Maverick's" estimated global box office haul is $252.7 million for its opening weekend.
"People are ecstatic," said John Fithian, CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners. "We've spent two years answering God-awful existential questions about the future of moviegoing." Fithian noted that older audiences, largely absent from theaters over the past two years because of coronavirus concerns, returned en masse over the weekend, "ending the debate about a full recovery."
About 55% of ticket buyers were over the age of 35, according to Paramount Pictures, which released "Top Gun: Maverick." Paramount and Skydance Media produced and financed the movie, which cost roughly $170 million to make. A megawatt global marketing campaign cost another $125 million or more.
Turnout for "Top Gun: Maverick" was unusually strong in some areas of the United States that tend to be overlooked by Hollywood, including Tennessee, Oklahoma, Utah, Oregon and northern Florida. Marc Weinstock, Paramount's president of worldwide marketing and distribution, noted that 20% of ticket buyers were ages 18 to 24, a demographic that had been in question before release.
"I think a lot of people want to take a break from the world for two hours, especially for something that leaves them feeling upbeat like this movie does," Weinstock said.
Adjusting for inflation, the original "Top Gun" cost about $40 million to make and collected $942 million at the global box office in summer 1986, according to the IMDb Pro database. "Top Gun" was released on 1,028 screens in the United States and Canada, which, at the time, amounted to an ultrawide rollout. To compare, "Top Gun: Maverick," directed by Joseph Kosinski, arrived on 4,735 screens in North America, setting a theatrical booking record, according to Comscore.
Euphoric reviews and strong word-of-mouth helped boost ticket sales, which easily surpassed prerelease analyst expectations. "Top Gun: Maverick" received a rare A-plus grade from ticket buyers in CinemaScore exit polls. Paramount also backed the release with a savvy marketing campaign.
In the United States, concerns about the coronavirus seem to have faded. About 85% of pre-pandemic ticket buyers (those attending at least four movies a year) currently feel safe going to theaters, according to polling by National Research Group, a film industry consultancy. In January, about 65% felt safe. NRG data shows that consumers, in general, view movie theaters as safer than gyms, bars and restaurants.
"This is the real turnaround," said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Cineworld, which owns Regal Cinemas, the No. 2 multiplex chain in the United States. "We are very, very optimistic for the rest of the year."
"The Bob's Burgers Movie" was the only new release that dared go up against "Top Gun." Released by 20th Century Studios and Disney, the animated pic earned $12.6 million from 3,425 locations. It opened in third place, behind "Doctor Strange 2," which earned $16.4 million in its fourth weekend in theaters.
In the weeks ahead, Hollywood will serve up a murderers' row of sequels and prequels, including "Jurassic World: Dominion," "Lightyear," "Minions: The Rise of Gru" and "Thor: Love and Thunder." Other high-profile summer offerings include "Where the Crawdads Sing," "Elvis" and Jordan Peele's "Nope." Theater owners also have high hopes for "The Black Phone," a Blumhouse thriller, and "Bullet Train," starring Brad Pitt.
"Top Gun: Maverick" gave Cruise, 59, the biggest opening of his decadeslong career, even when adjusting for inflation, surpassing "War of the Worlds" in 2005, according to Comscore data.
Overall, the joyful mood in the old-line movie industry Sunday could be summed up by an exchange in "Top Gun: Maverick" between Cruise's weathered flying ace and a naysaying superior.
"The end is inevitable, Maverick -- your kind is headed for extinction," the superior says.
Maverick's reply: "Maybe so, sir. But not today."