Paramount must be proud. Top Gun: Maverick was widely touted as a critical test of the theatrical recovery’s tenaciousness outside of the 18-34 demographic that’s been powering it up to date. As the Paramount/Skydance picture continues its theatrical momentum, pushing nearly to the $300M domestic cume mark, it doesn’t seem to be letting up. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A, rounds up the figures to date.
Beating the Original
Earning over $90M in its second worldwide weekend, Top Gun: Maverick has now left both the 1986 original and Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible in the dust. Not only is it one of the best performing films to date for the actor, but it’s another exceptional milestone for the theater industry. To date, its domestic total sits achingly close to $300M, with its global cume crossing $550M. Doubtless aided by the lack of any major studio release this past weekend, it’s also a highly encouraging sign for the summer box office overall.
Older Audiences Return
In particular, it’s managed to coax back the noticeably reluctant older audience demographic to theatrical outings. However, it’s also pretty notable that the film has managed to draw heavily on the 18-24 young moviegoer demographic, with over 21% of viewers last weekend fitting the age range. This means it’s managed to pick up audiences both from its target demographic and those who were quite literally born in the comic-book-movie era. Quite an achievement for an IP this old. It has managed to play well to critics, Tom Cruise fans, regular moviegoers, and those eager to escape the fantasy genre for a sparkling silver screen blockbuster that’s a little more ‘normal’ in feel.
No doubt Paramount, particularly, is glad to have another stellar performer in its corner, continuing the studio’s epic turnaround from the flops of a decade ago that almost shut its doors completely. All in all, it’s another encouraging step forward to full recovery for the theater industry, and the overall movie industry too.
