“Top Gun: Maverick” has passed $1 billion at the box office, becoming action star Tom Cruise’s highest grossing film. It has become the highest grossing movie of 2022 as well, passing Marvel’s “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness.”
“To all the films in release, to all the studios, and to all the exhibitors: congratulations. To the audience: thank you for venturing out and allowing us to entertain you. See you at the movies,” Cruise said on Twitter to thank audiences for the film’s impressive box office.
With more than 30 years in the industry, Cruise has been able to maintain relevance and even improve in some ways. His second highest grossing film was 2018′s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” which made over $750 million.
“Top Gun: Maverick” is now in the top 50 highest grossing films of all time, just below “Zootopia” and “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”
“Top Gun: Maverick” also set a Memorial Day weekend record during its opening weekend in May. The 59-year old Cruise thanked fans for this feat, saying “Thank you to everyone who saw #TopGun: Maverick and helped make it a historic opening weekend.”
Cruise has been a big supporter of re-opening movie theaters since the pandemic, arguing that they are a crucial part of the film experience. He said he never even considered releasing Top Gun on a streaming service because “I make movies for the big screen.”
The sequel to the iconic 1986 action film, directed by Joseph Kosinski, picks up 30 years after the events of the first film, when Cruise’s Maverick comes back to the naval aviation program as an instructor. The film featured many young stars, including Miles Teller, Glen Powell and Jay Ellis, as well as some older favorites like Jon Hamm and Jennifer Connelly.
Cruise’s next film, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1,” is set to release in July of next year.
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