Top Gun sequel pulls off massive triumph

The Tom Cruise action blockbuster just crossed the $US1 billion ($1.44 billion) threshold globally, which makes it Cruise’s biggest box office of his career, overtaking Mission Impossible: Fallout. At the Australian box office, Top Gun: Maverick has taken $64.16 million. It’s now the fifth highest grossing movie locally, passing Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Avengers: Infinity War, Titanic and The Lion King this past weekend. The previous weekend, it overtook Bohemian Rhapsody.Ahead of Top Gun: Maverick are Avatar, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home.Since its release a month ago, Top Gun: Maverick has triumphed thanks to strong reviews and even stronger word-of-mouth, and, anecdotally, repeat viewing at the cinema from moviegoers hungry for an immersive theatrical experience.The propulsive sequel to the 1986 classic sees Cruise’s character return to the elite fighter jet pilot squadron to train a new generation for a near-impossible mission.The film, directed by Joseph Kosinski, features riveting practical stunts which saw Cruise and the other actors including Miles Teller shoot their F18 cockpit scenes in the air, feeling the full brunt of punishing G-Forces.Top Gun: Maverick is only the second movie since the start of the Covid pandemic to hit $US1 billion, the other is Spider-Man: No Way Home which finished its theatrical run at $US1.9 billion ($2.74 billion).Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is close – it’s currently sitting at $US947 million ($1.368 billion).Top Gun: Maverick’s success is encouraging for the cinema industry which has suffered through two-and-a-half years of pandemic disruptions including widespread and prolonged closures as well as a cautious public hesitant to return.Paramount’s decision to delay the release until this year has paid off. The dates were pushed several times during the pandemic.It’s also notable that it and Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have all conquered the box office without releasing in China, the world’s largest movie-going market.All three films have not being approved by Chinese government censors, who rarely publicly confirm the reasons for their decisions. Top Gun: Maverick drew ire when its first trailer, released in July 2019, removed the Taiwanese and Japanese flags from Maverick’s iconic bomber jacket. The theatrical cut reinstated the flags.Chinese entertainment company Tencent was originally an investor in the film – and was at the time of the trailer release – but later backed out over anxieties about being associated with a movie that pushes American military might, according to the Wall Street Journal.Top Gun: Maverick has put the often-controversial Cruise back in the spotlight, which bodes well for his next big release, the seventh Mission Impossible film which is due for release in July 2023.