Top Gun: Maverick breaks a 15-year Memorial Day box office record with $156M

Just a day after it was revealed that Top Gun: Maverick earned star Tom Cruise‘s first ever $100 million opening weekend, the updated numbers revealed it has now broken a 15-year-old box office record.

The early estimates for Top Gun: Maverick had put it easily in first place with $151 million, though now Monday’s updated numbers put the four-day holiday weekend tally at $156 million, via Variety.

The new numbers were big enough to best Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which opened to $153 million during the long weekend in 2007.

New record: Just a day after it was revealed that Top Gun: Maverick earned star Tom Cruise’s first ever $100 million opening weekend, the updated numbers revealed it has now broken a 15-year-old box office record

Box office: The early estimates for Top Gun: Maverick had put it easily in first place with $151 million, though now Monday’s updated numbers put the four-day holiday weekend tally at $156 million, via Variety 

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Top Gun: Maverick – which follows Tom Cruise as he returns to reprise his character Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell from the 1986 classic Top Gun –  already set another record over the weekend.

The film opened in 4,732 North American theaters over the holiday frame, the widest release in cinematic history, besting the 2019 remake of The Lion King (4,725 theaters).

It also marks the second-highest debut of 2022, behind Marvel’s Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which took in $187.4 million on the first weekend of May.

Maverick: Top Gun: Maverick – which follows Tom Cruise as he returns to reprise his character Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell from the 1986 classic Top Gun – already set another record over the weekend

Wide release: The film opened in 4,732 North American theaters over the holiday frame, the widest release in cinematic history, besting the 2019 remake of The Lion King (4,725 theaters)

The long-awaited sequel also marked a personal best for Tom Cruise, giving the action icon his first $100 million movie in his storied 40-year career.

The $156-million tally was more than enough to best the 59-year-old actor’s previous best opening weekend – War of the Worlds’ $64 million back in 2005. 

The film from director Joseph Kosinski – who directed Cruise in the 2013 film Oblivion – also took in $128 million from foreign markets, for a worldwide opening weekend tally of $248 million from a huge $170 million budget.

Personal best: The long-awaited sequel also marked a personal best for Tom Cruise, giving the action icon his first $100 million movie in his storied 40-year career

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The film also earned $21 million from IMAX theaters alone, boasting rave reviews with 96% on critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Along with the critical reception, fans also chimed in giving the sequel an incredibly rare A+ grade on CinemaScore.

It was also revealed that over 55% of ticket buyers for Top Gun: Maverick were 35 years of age or older.

Older: It was also revealed that over 55% of ticket buyers for Top Gun: Maverick were 35 years of age or older

Rave: The film also earned $21 million from IMAX theaters alone, boasting rave reviews with 96% on critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes

That figure is important since older audience members have been the most reluctant to return to theaters amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a sign that theaters may be ready to rebound to pre-pandemic levels.

The film was originally supposed to be released in June 2020, though Paramount decided to hold off on the release until more fans are able to return, a move that clearly paid off.

‘I’m gratified we made this decision to hang on. This movie is going to have a huge run. It’s going to draw people to theaters who haven’t been in a long time,’ said Paramount’s domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson.

Rebound: That figure is important since older audience members have been the most reluctant to return to theaters amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a sign that theaters may be ready to rebound to pre-pandemic levels