After a 36 year wait, the Tom Cruise sequel Top Gun: Maverick finally took off to a massive $19.3M in previews.
That’s the highest grossing preview in Paramount Pictures’ history and the highest grossing Memorial Day preview in history; and of course, best for Cruise. Early projections heading into the weekend were $80M-$100M over four days, and a high octane start such as this could easily propel Top Gun: Maverick to the best Memorial Day weekend opening ever, besting the $139.8M 4-day of 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
Without a question Top Gun: Maverick is also looking to be the best opening of Tom Cruise’s career, easily leaving behind his 2005 3-day of War of the Worlds which was $64.8M.
Everything is working in Top Gun 2‘s favor: It’s the widest release ever at 4,735 theaters; has 5 out of 5 stars on ComScore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak with a 96% positive and an enormous 84% definite recommend. PLFs (31%) and Imax (21%) combined repped 52% of preview ticket sales. Also juicing bucks is a 97% Certified Fresh score after a month’s worth of buzz premieres around the globe for Top Gun 2 and a current audience score on RT of an amazing 99%.
The previous big preview for Paramount was 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with $16M, which was on a Tuesday and resulted in a $62M Wednesday (previews repped 25% of that figure). Best Thursday previews for a movie opening over Memorial Day weekend actually belongs to Disney’s Star Wars: A Solo Story which saw $14.1M, but only repped 40% of its first Friday’s $35.3M. That movie was panned by fans and yet resulted in a $103M 4-day holiday opening.
Thursday previews began at 3PM for the Paramount/Skydance feature. In addition, there were also a “Top Gun” Tuesday with premium large format, Imax, and Dolby screens opening their curtains at 7PM. The above figure is comprised of Tuesday and Thursday tickets sales.
Top Gun: Maverick blows away Cruise’s previous Thursday preview record, that being 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout which earned $6M. At that preview level.
Top Gun: Maverick means a little something extra to exhibition and studios overall: Outside of older guys attending, which Cruise always attracts (Fallout pulled in 41% men over 25), the hope is that this sequel plays wide, from under 25 to Cruise female fans that hung his posters in their bedrooms during the 1980s. Last night saw unweighted a turnout of 57% guys to 43% gals. Fallout‘s Thursday night repped 26% of its first day Friday of $22.8M before going on to make $61.2M.
20th Century Studios/Disney’s The Bob’s Burgers Movie saw $1.5M in previews from shows that began at 5PM. The pic is 86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a current audience score of 96%. A $10M-$14M four-day launch is expected at 3,425 U.S./Canada locations.
Among regular ranked movies yesterday, Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness earned $2.4M at 4,534 theaters, -14% from Wednesday for a running three week total of $354.4M.
Focus Features’ Downton Abbey: A New Era was second with $1.3M, -11% from Wednesday for a first week’s take $22.6M at 3,820 locations.
Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys was third yesterday with $576K, +1%, at 3,705 venues and a running five week total of $76.7M.
A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once booked at 1,576 posted a ninth Thursday of $426K, -16%, and a running cume of $54.3M.
Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 drew around $330K, -4%, at 2,943 for a seven week running total of $182.6M.
