Entertainment
Top Gun: Maverick swoops in to become Tom Cruise’s biggest opening weekend ever with $248,000,000 worldwide-Alicia Adejobi-Entertainment – Metro
That’s how you make a comeback after 36 years.
Cruise has just landed a major career milestone with Top Gun: Maverick (Picture: Splash News/Paramount Pictures)
Tom Cruise sure knows how to make a comeback with Top Gun: Maverick absolutely storming the box office this weekend.
The Mission: Impossible star returned to screens this month after more than three years with the long-awaited sequel to his 1986 classic Top Gun.
It may be 36 years later but the aviation blockbuster still has just as much appeal – if not more – than the original, as it’s expected to gross $124million (£98m) over the three-day opening.
However, it’s Memorial Day weekend in the US which means there’s an extra day for those who have a bit more time on their hands away from work to flock to cinemas to catch Cruise in action, and therefore projected box office takings over the four days are a staggering $151m (£120m).
Perhaps even more impressive, Top Gun: Maverick is set to become the biggest opening weekend of Cruise’s career to date. This may come as a surprise considering he has blockbuster franchises such as Mission: Impossible under his belt.
It’s also the first time the 58-year-old action hero has had a film debut to $100m (£79m) or more, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Now that’s how you make a comeback (Picture: Paramount Pictures)
Considering Top Gun: Maverick isn’t showing in Russia or China, which typically boast large markets, the sequel has opened to a healthy $124m (£98m) around the world, bringing its global total to $248m (£197m).
More than three decades after the OG movie, Top Gun: Maverick sees Cruise return as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, the Navy’s rebellious pilot who is tasked with training up a new batch of graduates for a special mission.
It’s the biggest opening of Cruise’s career (Picture: WireImage)
It boasts a stellar cast including newbies Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Jay Ellis and Monica Barabo, while Val Kilmer reprises his role as Admiral Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky.
Tom recently addressed the prospect of a sequel and told Metro.co.uk – albeit very coyly – at the London premiere: ‘I think tonight I’m just going to enjoy this evening, right here. It’s been 36 years since the last one and we’ve all worked so hard. It’s such a wonderful evening.
More: Tom Cruise
‘To finally have it open and see people, how much they’re enjoying it, and I don’t know… everything that everyone’s been through, to be able to look out and see everyone’s dressed to the nines… it’s a beautiful evening.’
Meanwhile, the sequel continues to leave cinema-goers emotional as they watch the new film for the first time, but Maverick star Glen is here for all the man tears.
Top Gun: Maverick is in cinemas now.
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