Over Labor Day weekend, Paramount/Skydance’s “Top Gun: Maverick” has reached a milestone it has been projected to hit for months: $700 million in domestic grosses. The film pulled in $7.9 million in ticket sales between Friday and Monday, bringing its total domestic gross to $701 million.
In doing so, the Tom Cruise blockbuster now stands among the top 5 highest grossing films ever in North America before inflation adjustment, joining a list led by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($936 million) and also include “Avengers: Endgame,” ($858 million), “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($804 million), and “Avatar” ($760.5 million).
With “Avatar” getting a re-release on Sept. 23 ahead of its long-awaited sequel “The Way of Water,” fifth place may be as high as “Top Gun: Maverick” goes on the charts. But nonetheless, the film has taken advantage of overwhelming popularity, a devoted fanbase that has turned out for multiple viewings, and weak competition in the latter half of the summer to leg out from its Memorial Day weekend-record $160.5 million 4-day opening and stay in the top 5 for all but one of the last 15 weekends.
In addition, “Maverick” could get second wind if it fulfills its fans’ hopes of earning a Best Picture nomination at next year’s Academy Awards. Though awards season re-releases aren’t always guaranteed to generate substantial revenue, “Maverick” has achieved that elusive status among audiences as a film that must be seen multiple times on the biggest screen possible. A Best Picture nomination would undoubtedly put it right back in the pop culture conversation and could lead to renewed interest during what will be a sluggish post-holiday period.
Globally, “Top Gun: Maverick” has grossed over $1.44 billion, putting it only behind “Titanic” as the second highest-grossing release ever from Paramount. It currently stands 12th on the all-time global list, having passed “Avengers: Age of Ultron” earlier this month and sitting just behind the $1.45 billion total of “Frozen II.”
