'Top Gun: Maverick' gives Tom Cruise the first $100 million opening weekend of his career at the box office
Tom Cruise has achieved a major career milestone after his latest release Top Gun: Maverick outperformed expectations at the global box office.
The film, in which 59-year-old Cruise reprises his role as US Navy pilot Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell from the 1986 original hit classic, has given Cruise his first $100 million opening weekend.
Top Gun: Maverick also became the highest-opening non-superhero film released since the pandemic, behind Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Batman.
"These results are ridiculous, super-brilliant," said Chris Aronson, Paramount's president of domestic distribution.
"I'm happy for everyone. I'm happy for the company, for Tom, for the filmmakers."
The film has been a milestone for Cruise, who is not known to have massive blockbuster openings at the box office.
Prior to Maverick, his biggest domestic debut was in 2005 with Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, which opened to $64 million.
Hit action franchise Mission: Impossible - Fallout earned $61 million in 2018.