Tom Cruise’s ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ set for record Memorial Day opening

Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick is set to earn $142.4 million over four days, which easily would overtake Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which did $139.8 million. It has taken 15 years for that record to be broken.

Friday for the  Top Gun sequel starring Tom Cruise is looking like $50 million with an estimated three-day of $117 million. That would make Top Gun: Maverick the second-biggest opener for Paramount after Iron Man 2, which debuted to $128.1 million in 2010, and ahead of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($100.1 million in 2008).

Top Gun 2 is also the second-biggest opening day for a Paramount title after Iron Man 2’s $51.1 million.

Also Read: Why Tom Cruise’s flight scene in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ cost $11,374 an hour

When asked at Cannes whether straight-to-streaming was an option for the movie, Cruise said, “No, that’s not going to happen ever,” which triggered great applause.  “That was never going to happen.”

After a 36-year wait, the Tom Cruise sequel Top Gun:

Maverick finally took off to a massive $19.3 million in previews from Thursday 3 pm showtimes and a one-time 7 pm Tuesday fan event.

That’s the highest-grossing preview in Paramount Pictures history, the highest-grossing Memorial Day preview in history.  Early projections heading into the weekend were $80 million-$100 million over four days, and a high-octane start such as this easily could propel Top Gun: Maverick to the best Memorial Day weekend opening ever, besting the $139.8 million four-day total of 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End in 2007.

The movie is looking to be the best opening of Cruise’s career, easily leaving behind his 2005 three-day cume of War of the Worlds, which was $64.8 million. 

Also Read: A history of walkouts: Crimes of the Future, Crash and Cronenberg at Cannes

The movie has a 97% Certified Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes after a month’s worth of buzzy global premieres and a current audience score on RT of an amazing 99%.