‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Pulls Off Incredible Box Office Accomplishment

OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.

“Top Gun: Maverick” has reached another milestone accomplishment at the domestic box office by overtaking “Titanic” and becoming the 7th highest grossing film domestically ever made.

The film starring Tom Cruise has earned $662 million at the domestic box office. Globally, the film has earned $1.3 billion despite being banned in multiple countries with large populations, such as China and Russia.

🚨 POLL: Should Hollywood make more pro-America films?
YES 👍 or NO 👎

Many people celebrated film as a breath of fresh air that is “woke-free” and unabashedly pro-America.

During the production of the film, a Chinese investor reportedly backed out of financing the film because of its pro-America message.

Nonetheless, Paramount Pictures did not let this impact production. The Chinese tech company Tencent Holdings Ltd. initially invested millions to take a 12.5 percent stake in the film, but then backed out.

🚨 POLL: Should Hollywood make more pro-America films?
YES 👍 or NO 👎

The Wall Street Journal reported, “Tencent executives backed out of the $170 million Paramount Pictures production after they grew concerned that Communist Party officials in Beijing would be angry about the company’s affiliation with a movie celebrating the American military, according to people familiar with the matter.”

“Association with a pro-American story grew radioactive as relations between the U.S. and China devolved, the people added. The about-face turned ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ from a movie that once symbolized deepening ties between China and Hollywood into a fresh example of the broader tensions forming between the U.S. and China.”

The film is the biggest debut for a movie in actor Tom Cruise’s 40-year career. Without spoiling the movie, Tom Cruise wears a leather jacket with a patch that “commemorates a U.S. battleship’s tour of Japan, Taiwan and the Western Pacific in 1963-1964.”

Audiences in Taiwan reportedly cheered seeing the patch.

More on this story via Breitbart:

About 60% of the audience for “Elvis” was over the age of 35. Older audiences have been among the most hesitant to return to theaters in the pandemic but that’s changing — in part, Goldstein noted, because of “Top Gun,” which brought back fans of the 1986 original.

“Elvis,” which cost about $85 million to make, was propelled by strong reviews (78% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), good word of mouth (an A- CinemaScore) and a glitzy Cannes Film Festival premiere. It added $20 million overseas over the weekend…

The “Elvis”/”Top Gun” showdown — along with the new Blumhouse horror release “The Black Phone” and big holdovers in “Jurassic World: Dominion” and Pixar’s “Lightyear” — made for one of the most competitive, and busy, weekends in movie theaters in the pandemic era.

Most studios came away celebrating, though Disney’s “Lightyear” dropped a steep 65% in its second weekend. After opening softly last week, the “Toy Story” spinoff grossed $17.7 million domestically, falling to fifth place. “Lightyear,” which has made $152 million worldwide to date, will soon face more competition for families with the Friday release of “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”