Top Gun: Maverick beats 'Doctor Strange 2' to become the highest grossing film of the year worldwide
Paramount and Skydance's all-American blockbuster "Top Gun: Maverick" is still soaring high at the box office, passing the coveted $1 billion milestone over the weekend.
It's the first of the year to reach that benchmark, and only the second in post-COVID times ($1.9 billion with Sony's "Spider-Man: No Way Home"). It's even more impressive that "Maverick" hit the $1 billion mark without playing in China or Russia, the two major markets.
After just 31 days on the big screen, "Top Gun: Maverick" has become the first Tom Cruise film to cross $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Previously, 2018's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" was ranked as the actor's most successful film with $791.1 million worldwide.
Earlier this weekend, the sequel to the 1986 action flick "Top Gun" was already the highest-grossing film of the year with $521 million at the domestic box office. Now in its fifth weekend of release, “Maverick” has added $30.5 million and is in a close race with newcomer “Elvis” for the No. 1 spot on the domestic box office chart.
With another $484.7 million at the international box office, revenue for Maverick currently stands at $1.006 billion worldwide. Those ticket sales were enough to overtake Disney's Marvel adventure "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" ($943 million) as the year's highest-grossing film at the global box office.
Thanks to critical acclaim and stellar word-of-mouth, “Top Gun: Maverick” has been crushing box office records since opening in theaters over Memorial Day weekend. During the extended break, the film grossed $160.5 million, the first film in Cruise's 40-year career to cross $100 million in one weekend.
According to Paramount, repeat customers and IMAX screens have gathered momentum in the weeks since the theatrical debut. As of its fourth weekend in North American movie theaters, 16% of viewers have returned more than once and 4% have returned three or more times.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the $170 million-budget "Top Gun: Maverick" centers on Cruise's Pete "Maverick" Mitchell as he trains a new group of cocky aviators for an important assignment. The cast includes Miles Teller, Glenn Powell, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly and Val Kilmer, who previously played Iceman in "Top Gun".
For Paramount, the film continues to do well at the 2022 box office. After releasing barely any films during the pandemic, the studio managed to hit the box office with "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" ($190 million in North America), "The Lost City" ($105 million in North America), "Scream" ($81 million in North America) and "Jack's Forever" ($57 million in North America). Notably, there are no spandex superheroes in the bunch.