‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Sets Memorial Day Box Office Record With $156 Million Opening

Paramount, Skydance and Tom Cruise break a 15-year holiday record

paramount top-gun-maverick-tom-cruise
Paramount Pictures

Paramount/Skydance’s “Top Gun: Maverick” has broken both the sound barrier and the Memorial Day weekend box office record with an estimated four-day opening of $156 million from 4,735 theaters.

With that total, the blockbuster, starring Tom Cruise, has beaten the record held by “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” which took in $153 million, a record that has stood since 2007. Paramount also reports an actual three-day opening of $126.7 million, which ranks fourth among all films released since theaters reopened and second behind “Iron Man 2” ($128) on Paramount’s all-time list.

“Top Gun: Maverick” also blows away the personal best opening weekend record for Cruise, which was previously the $64 million opening for “War of the Worlds” in 2005. Combined with an estimated $124 million grossed overseas through Sunday, “Top Gun: Maverick” has earned more than $250 million globally so far.

“Maverick” has also been an overwhelming success in terms of reception, with both critical acclaim and strong results from audience polls including an A+ on CinemaScore and an 86% “Definite Recommend” rating from Comscore/Screen Engine’s Postrak, results that are on par with Marvel’s “Black Panther.” And unlike most blockbusters with $100 million-plus openings, the audience has been much older with 55% over the age of 35.

Also opening this weekend was 20th Century’s “The Bob’s Burgers Movie,” settling at No. 3 with a $12.4 million three-day/$14.8 million four-day opening consistent with pre-release projections. It’s a decent result for this long-delayed adaptation of the hit Fox animated series and is the last 20th Century title outside of the “Avatar” sequels greenlit prior to the studio’s acquisition by Disney.

Sitting in between the two Memorial Day newcomers on the charts is Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which has taken in $20.8 million over four days to bring its total to $375 million domestic and $868 million worldwide.

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