Forget breaking the sound barrier: Tom Cruise just flew past a major career milestone.
The 59-year-old superstar just got his first $100 million opening weekend with 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick.鈥� In its first three days in North American theaters, the long-in-the-works sequel earned an estimated $124 million in ticket sales, Paramount Pictures said Sunday. Including international showings, its worldwide total is $248 million.
It鈥檚 a supersonic start for a film that still has the wide-open skies of Memorial Day itself to rake in even more cash. According to projections and estimates, by Monday鈥檚 close, 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� will likely have over $150 million.
鈥淭hese results are ridiculously, over-the-top fantastic,鈥� said Chris Aronson, Paramount鈥檚 president of domestic distribution. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy for everyone. I鈥檓 happy for the company, for Tom, for the filmmakers.鈥�
Though undeniably one of the biggest stars in the world 鈥� perhaps even 鈥渢he last movie star,鈥� according to various headlines 鈥� Cruise is not known for massive blockbuster openings.
Before 鈥淢averick,鈥� his biggest domestic debut was in 2005, with Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淲ar of the Worlds,鈥� which opened to $64 million. After that it was 鈥淢ission: Impossible 鈥� Fallout鈥� with $61 million in 2018. It's not that his films don't make money in the long run: They just aren't enormously frontloaded.
鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� had an extremely long journey to get to the theaters. The sequel to the late Tony Scott's 鈥淭op Gun,鈥� which was released in 1986, was originally slated to open in the summer of 2020. Its marketing campaign technically started back in July 2019. The pandemic got in the way of those plans, however, and it was delayed several times. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and co-produced and co-financed by Skydance, the sequel reportedly cost $152 million to make.
But even as the months, and years, went by and many other companies chose to compromise on hybrid releases, Cruise and Paramount didn鈥檛 waver on their desire to have a major theatrical release. A streaming debut was simply not an option.
鈥淭hat was never going to happen,"
And it is major, with 4,735 North American theaters (a record) showing 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick.鈥� It also opened in 23,600 locations in 62 international markets.
鈥淭his is one of the longest runways for a marketing campaign for any film ever. And it only served to create more excitement around the movie,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淭his movie literally waited for the movie theater to come back.鈥�
The build up has been just as flashy, with fighter-jet-adorned premieres on an and at the , where Cruise was also given an honorary Palme d鈥橭r, and a attended by Prince William and his wife Kate.
鈥淭he feeling you get when you watch this film with an audience, it鈥檚 pretty special,鈥� Aronson said. 鈥淭he first big screening we had, there was spontaneous applause during the movie.鈥�
have been stellar, too, with the film notching a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, who were 58% male, gave it an A+ CinemaScore, according to exit polls.
The new film has Cruise reprising the role of Maverick, who returns to the elite aviation training program to train the next generation of flyers, including Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Greg Tarzan Davis, Danny Ramirez, Lewis Pullman and Jay Ellis. Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm and Val Kilmer, reprising his role from the original, also star.
鈥淭his solidifies the notion that the movie theater is a singular and a vitally important outlet for people,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥淧eople are looking for a great escape from everything that鈥檚 going on in the world right now.鈥�
鈥淢averick鈥� is now among the top pandemic era openings, still led by 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home鈥� with $260 million, followed by 鈥淒octor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness鈥� with $187 million and 鈥淭he Batman鈥� with $134 million.
Notably, 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� is the only non-superhero movie in the bunch. It also attracted a wide swath of age groups to the theater. An estimated 55% of the audience was over 35.
鈥淪uperhero movies aren鈥檛 for everybody. This movie is for everyone and that鈥檚 what sets it apart," Aronson said. 鈥淭he theatrical exhibition business has challenges ahead of it, but this is a shot in the arm for that.鈥�
鈥淭he Bob鈥檚 Burgers Movie鈥� was the only new release that dared go up against 鈥淭op Gun.鈥� Released by 20th Century Studios and Disney, the animated pic earned $12.6 million from 3,425 locations. It opened in third place, behind 鈥淒octor Strange 2,鈥� which earned $16.4 million in its fourth weekend in theaters.
鈥淭op Gun鈥� will continue to essentially have the skies to itself until 鈥淛urassic World: Dominion鈥� opens on June 10.
鈥淚t has a really nice, open marketplace to play,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥淭om Cruise has always been about consistency. His movies are about the marathon. This is the first movie of his that is sprinting to big box office numbers. Here, he gets the sprint and the marathon.鈥�
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.
1. 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥� $124 million.
2. 鈥淒octor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,鈥� $16.4 million.
3. 鈥淭he Bob鈥檚 Burgers Movie,鈥� $12.6 million.
4. 鈥淒ownton Abbey: A New Era,鈥� $5.9 million.
5. 鈥淭he Bad Guys,鈥� $4.6 million.
6. 鈥淪onic the Hedgehog 2,鈥� $2.5 million.
7. 鈥淓verything Everywhere All At Once,鈥� $2.5 million.
8. 鈥淭he Lost City,鈥� $1.8 million.
9. 鈥淢en,鈥� $1.2 million.
10. 鈥淔3: Fun and Frustration,鈥� $1 million.
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
