Film

36 years later, Top Gun again tops N.America box office

Delayed two years by the pandemic, Top Gun: Maverick seems to be satisfying a pent up need among cinemagoing audiences

Updated 4 years ago · Published on 30 May 2022 4:00PM

36 years later, Top Gun again tops N.America box office — He's still got it... Top Gun: Maverick is a big hit in the US and around the world, the latest achievement in Tom Cruise's 40 years as a movie star. – AFP pic, May 30, 2022

MUCH-anticipated action film Top Gun: Maverick was expected to have a big opening and it did not disappoint, taking in an estimated US$151 million (RM660 million) in North America for the four-day Memorial Day weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported.

Viewers had to wait 36 years to see the sequel to the original Top Gun, but critics say the Paramount/Skydance production was worth the wait, with some calling it superior to the original film.

"The source material remains strong, the execution is excellent, and Tom Cruise makes it work impeccably well," said analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

The film – whose release had been delayed two years by the Covid-19 pandemic – notched US$124 million for the first three days of the holiday weekend and took in the same amount overseas, despite not playing in China or Russia. It was Cruise's first opening to top US$100 million.

He again plays cocky (if grayer) navy test pilot Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, now a captain, as he trains to bomb a rogue nation's uranium enrichment facility. A strong supporting cast includes Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller and Jon Hamm; original Top Gun veteran Val (Iceman) Kilmer appears briefly.

Slipping a notch to second place was Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which in its fourth weekend took in US$16.4 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period and US$21.1 million for the full four days.

The Disney film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, had opened to a year's best US$187 million.

In third spot was 20th Century's new Bob's Burgers Movie. The animated film, based on a popular television show, earned US$12.6 million for three days and US$15 million for four.

Focus Features' Downton Abbey: A New Era took fourth place, with US$5.9 million for three days and US$7.5 million for four. Based on the hugely popular British series, it again stars Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery.

And in fifth was Universal's family-friendly animation The Bad Guys, at US$4.6 million for three days and US$6.1 million for four. – AFP, May 30, 2022