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The milestones keep rolling in. \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d has collected $679 million in North America, enough to overtake Marvel’s \u201cAvengers: Infinity War\u201d ($678 million) as the sixth-highest grossing movie in domestic box office history.<\/p>\n
It’s an especially impressive benchmark because 2018’s every-hero-but-the-kitchen-sink adventure \u201cAvengers: Infinity War\u201d had a little help in building up anticipation. It served as part one (2019’s \u201cEndgame\u201d was part two) of Marvel’s epic culmination of more than 20 movies \u2014 most of which were box office juggernauts in their own right \u2014 over 10 years. Talk about hype.<\/p>\n
More from Variety<\/strong><\/p>\nSure, \u201cMaverick\u201d had Tom Cruise, a box office hero in his own right. But moviegoers hadn’t felt the need for speed in more than 30 years; the sequel to 1986’s \u201cTop Gun\u201d was far from a guaranteed hit.<\/p>\n
Yet, thanks to stellar word-of-mouth and repeat customers, \u201cMaverick\u201d continues to defy the odds. And there’s a chance the movie will continue to fly higher on box office charts. Can the \u201cTop Gun\u201d follow-up take down 2018’s blockbuster \u201cBlack Panther\u201d and its $700.4 million tally to crack the top five domestic grossers of all-time?<\/p>\n
It would require a bit of endurance at this point, but it’s certainly not out of the question. \u201cTop Gun 2\u201d is likely to continue selling tickets because the film does not have a ton of competition on the horizon. It’ll be fairly desolate at the box office until November, when \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever\u201d opens in theaters. Disney is likely to re-release the original superhero sensation in anticipation of the follow-up, which could propel \u201cBlack Panther’s\u201d grosses even higher. But \u201cMaverick\u201d is no stranger to overcoming the impossible.<\/p>\n
Story continues<\/button><\/p>\nInternationally, \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d has generated more than $700 million \u2014 and that’s without playing in China or Russia, two major overseas markets. Outside of North America, top-earning territories include the United Kingdom ($95 million), Japan ($82 million), Korea ($62 million), Australia ($60 million) and France ($52.8 million). Globally, it’s the 13th-highest grossing movie ever with $1.379 billion to date.<\/p>\n
\u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d debuted on the big screen in May, setting a new Memorial Day weekend opening record with $160.5 million. The movie stayed in the top five on weekend charts for 10 weeks, dropping to sixth place in its 11th weekend before miraculously returning to the No. 2 spots in its 12th outing. \u201cThis. does. Note. Happen,\u201d Jeff Bock, a media analyst with Exhibitor Relations, wrote on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\nAmong the film’s numerous records, \u201cMaverick\u201d is Cruise’s first movie to surpass $100 million in a single weekend and his first to reach $1 billion at the worldwide box office. The movie star is being rewarded handsomely for rejuvenating the nation’s cinemas. By the time \u201cMaverick\u201d is out of theaters and lands on Paramount +, Cruise is expected to pocket at least $ 100 million from ticket sales, his salary and his eventual cut of home entertainment rentals and streaming revenue.<\/p>\n
Joseph Kosinski directed the long-delayed \u201cTop Gun: Maverick,\u201d which picks up decades after the original and follows Cruise’s Pete \u201cMaverick\u201d Mitchell as he trains a young group of aviators for a mission dangerous. The cast includes Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly and Val Kilmer, who played Iceman in the first \u201cTop Gun.\u201d<\/p>\n
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