‘Top Gun: Maverick’: The Movie’s Box Office Total Is Even More Impressive When You Consider 1 Fact
The story of Top Gun: Maverick might be as gripping as the movie. How, since it came more than 30 years after the original, Tom Cruise had to be convinced to make it. How the movie’s release got pushed back several times; a planned summer 2020 debut turned into summer 2022. And how Maverick’s box office success set records at every turn. Top Gun: Maverick’s worldwide box office is even more impressive when you remember it didn’t play in theaters in China or Russia.
Tom Cruise leads a strong ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ cast as the movie set several box office records
Cruise was a burgeoning movie star when Top Gun hit theaters in 1986. By the time Maverick came out, he had proven himself as an international superstar. He led a strong cast that included Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Val Kilmer, Jon Hamm, and a slew of younger actors such as Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman, Danny Ramirez, and Glen Powell.
Top Gun: Maverick debuted nearly three years after filming wrapped, but it shattered box office records within weeks:
- It gave Cruise his best opening weekend with $126.7 million in North American ticket sales in three days.
- Maverick needed a little over a week to become Cruise’s highest-grossing movie in the U.S.
- The movie broke Titanic’s record to become Paramount’s highest-grossing movie domestically.
- It became one of the few movies to make $100 million from IMAX ticket sales.
Top Gun: Maverick’s endurance makes it one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, which is even more impressive since it didn’t play in China or Russia.
‘Maverick’ had a disadvantage at the box office with no China or Russia releases
Top Gun: Maverick is a massive success story at the box office. Just think where it might rank all time if it played in Chinese or Russian cinemas. The movie ranks No. 12 among the highest-grossing movies at the worldwide box office, and 10 of the 11 films ahead of it showed in both countries (Spider-Man: No Way Home didn’t see a Chinese release).
Maverick has made more than $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office, according to Box Office Mojo. Roughly 51% of that total comes from foreign markets; every other movie ahead of it made at least 54% of its money overseas. That 3% difference in foreign money on movies making $1.4 billion at the box office is $42 million.
Frozen II made $155 million in those two markets and $122 million in China. If Maverick made just a third of that $155 million, it would sit comfortably ahead of Frozen II at No. 11 on the list of movies with the top lifetime grosses.
Furious 7 sits at No. 10. If Top Gun: Maverick had one-quarter of that movie’s $391 million in China, Cruise’s blockbuster would be on the verge of supplanting Furious 7 in the top 10.
Clearly, Top Gun: Maverick is a massive box office success (to say nothing of the overwhelmingly positive reviews). The movie’s haul is even more impressive when you remember it didn’t hit theaters in the most populous country in the world.
‘Maverick’ is available for digital purchase, but its streaming date is unknown
The movie remains in theaters, but Maverick saw its digital release on Aug. 23, 2022, on platforms such as Google Play, Prime Video, and Vudu. Paramount set the 4k and Blu-ray release date as Nov. 1, which comes at the perfect time to capitalize on holiday shopping.
Though a streaming release date hasn’t been announced, Maverick could arrive on Paramount+ on Nov. 1. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if the studio slightly delays the streaming release to incentivize fans to buy physical copies.
Top Gun: Maverick’s box office success is jaw-dropping, even without help from China or Russia. We’ll probably never see a Top Gun 3, but the story of Maverick and how it dominated the summer 2022 movie season is as gripping as any blockbuster.
