The theatrical re-release of Top Gun: Maverick doesn't seem to be putting much more gas in the engine for the film's 2022 box office gross. The project, which sees Tom Cruise returning in a belated sequel to his 1986 hit Top Gun, originally debuted on May 27, kicking off a sustained box office run the likes of which haven't been seen for quite some time. Maverick quickly became the highest-grossing domestic film of the year. By the time the film finished its major theatrical run on Halloween weekend, it had reached a worldwide gross of $1.49 billion and become the fifth highest-grossing domestic film of all time.
This weekend, Paramount re-released Top Gun: Maverick in a bid to get the film one last box office boost (and potential Oscar attention) before the end of the year. Now that the weekend's box office results are in, the film has opened below the newer films Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Violent Night, Strange World, The Menu, Devotion, and even Crunchyroll's The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie. Despite running in over 1,000 theaters, Top Gun: Maverick is only projected to take in a domestic gross of $600,000 by the end of the weekend.
How Far Does Top Gun: Maverick Need to Go To Climb the All-Time Chart?
This $600,000 gross is about comparable with what Top Gun: Maverick's box office run was earning in its 21st weekend, just three weeks before it left theaters completely. This means that the film is unlikely to push its incredible box office luck anymore. Presuming that each subsequent weekend it stays in theaters will earn less, this will most likely hardly be a blip on the film's enormous global take before it is buffeted out of theaters by the December 16 release of James Cameron's long-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water.
Unfortunately for those hoping to see the film climb even higher on the all-time charts, this re-release will hardly move the needle, perhaps because not enough time has passed since it bowed out of theaters. Currently, Top Gun: Maverick is lagging behind James Cameron's megahit Avatar on the domestic all-time chart. The film, which is currently standing at number 4, has a total domestic gross of $785 million and is substantially ahead of Top Gun: Maverick's $717 million, a gulf it is extremely unlikely to close with this particular re-release.
The gulf isn't quite so wide on the worldwide all-time chart, however. Top Gun: Maverick currently occupies the number 11 slot behind the 2015 sequel Furious 7, which has a worldwide gross of $1.52 billion. However, that's still a gap of around $28 million, which this re-release doesn't look likely to earn. The next highest film, the Marvel team-up The Avengers is only $3 million above that, but it still seems unlikely that the legacy sequel will be able to crack the Top 10.
Source: Deadline