Tom Cruise is in the midst of his most successful opening weekend ever.
According to Deadline, Top Gun: Maverick took Memorial Day weekend by storm, grossing $151 million in four days and $248 million globally. The sequel to the 1986 Cruise classic is the highest-grossing Memorial Day weekend picture since 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which grossed $153 million over the same period. Over 11 million people will have viewed the film by the end of Monday, eclipsing the 2 million who saw the original in theaters on its first weekend in the 1980s.
According to USA Today, Cruise’s previous biggest opening weekend was $64 million for Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds in 2005.
“If you thought movies were dead, go see Top Gun: Maverick and then let me know what you think. This film heralds the return of the summer blockbuster, and is a catalyst that will accelerate demand for moviegoing like an F-18 breaking the sound barrier,” Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, said in a statement. “There’s no way you sit in a theatre, with a huge screen and chest-pounding speakers, and come away thinking there’s any other way you want to experience Top Gun: Maverick, and our hats are off to Tom Cruise, Joe Kosinski, and their fearless creative team for what they’ve accomplished.”
Doctor Strange 2 is having a really good fourth weekend in theaters, coming in second with 21.1 million domestically over the four days, just behind Top Gun.