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“Top Gun: Maverick” beat the third installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” in record Memorial Day weekend opening box office numbers.
Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun” sequel brought in $160.5 million over the four days, while “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” brought in $153 million in 2007, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Top Gun: Maverick” marks a career best opening for Cruise who, up until this point, had not had an opening exceed $100 million.
The $160.5 million was revised from Monday’s reported $156 million and Sunday’s $151 million.
Tom Cruise attends the U.K. premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick” at Leicester Square on May 19, 2022, in London.
(Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)
“Top Gun” was off to a staggering $51.8 million start on Friday with more than $19 million in previews from 4,700 theaters in North America.
Ticket buyers gave the Jerry Bruckheimer film an A+ on CinemaScore, with more than 70% of the audience over the age of 25 and 55% of viewers over the age of 35.
Despite being one of Hollywood’s heaviest hitters, Cruise had never had a bigger opening since 2005’s “War of the Worlds” with Dakota Fanning.
The science-fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg grossed $64.9 million during the three-day weekend.
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Tom Cruise attends the Japan premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick” on May 24, 2022, in Yokohama.
(Ken Ishii)
Comscore also noted “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” earned $61.2 million in 2018, but Cruise’s films have all opened to less than $60 million.
Cruise said “Top Gun” would “never” make its theatrical debut on a streaming network despite years of setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When asked if he felt pressure to release the film in any capacity on a streaming network, Cruise assured the audience it would “never” happen.
“That was not going to happen ever,” Cruise said while laughing in excerpts published on The Hollywood Reporter. “That was never going to happen.”
Cruise recalled picking up his phone and calling each cast member every time the movie’s release date was pushed back just to reassure everyone to remain calm and focused on what they created.
Cruise remembered telling his co-stars: “Don’t worry, this is going to happen.”
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Tom Cruise arrives by helicopter to the world premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick” aboard the USS Midway in San Diego, California, on May 4, 2022.
(Robyn Beck/AFP)
Days before the worldwide shutdown in March 2020, Paramount moved the film up two days early for a release on June 24, 2020, but that was subsequently pushed back to Dec. 23. In July 2020, the film received another new schedule change by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cruise’s schedule, and “Mulan” and “Tenet” being scheduled for release on the same days.
The studio’s scheduling woes continued when the film was pushed back again in April 2021 for a November release and again in September 2021, when executives finally landed on the May 27, 2022, launch date.
Fox News’ Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
