‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Returns to Theaters for Limited Re-Release
“Top Gun: Maverick” is flying back into theaters in time for the holidays. Paramount is re-releasing the blockbuster sequel on the big screen, including select premium large formats and Imax, from Dec. 2 through Dec. 15.
The film, which is already readily available to watch on home entertainment, lands on Paramount+ on Dec. 22.
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The sequel to Tom Cruise’s action flick “Top Gun” has already become a smash hit to the tune of $1.48 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing movie of the year by a landslide. Universal’s dinosaur epic “Jurassic World Dominion,” the only other 2022 release to cross the billion-dollar mark, stands in a distant second place with $1.001 billion.
In North America, “Maverick” ranks as the fifth highest-grossing movie in history with $716 million, as well as the highest-grossing movie of the year. Globally, “Top Gun: Maverick” recently surpassed Disney’s “Frozen II” ($1.450 billion) as the 11th biggest movie of all time.
“’Top Gun: Maverick’ truly epitomizes the magic of the moviegoing experience, and we wanted to provide fans the opportunity to once again enjoy this cinematic spectacle as it was meant to be seen,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution. “This feels like the perfect time to bring ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ back to theaters so audiences everywhere can once again experience how special this film is.”
For theater owners, the timing is ripe because they’re in desperate need of content. Thanksgiving was a bust and other than “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” there’s nary a blockbuster to be found until “Avatar: The Way of Water” opens on Dec. 16. Though the summer season fielded several big hits like “Maverick,” “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and “Thor: Love and Thunder,” those films weren’t enough to offset the reality that studios have released 38% fewer films compared to pre-pandemic times. As a result, the overall box office is down 33% from 2019, according to Comscore. In short, exhibitors need more movies to show — and stat.
“Top Gun: Maverick,” which opened in May, has been the box office gift that keeps on giving. According to Paramount, it’s the only film to ever be No. 1 at the domestic box office for both Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays. It also stands as the studio’s highest-grossing domestic release ever.
The film notched several records for Cruise, marking his first movie to surpass $100 million in a single weekend, as well as his first to cross $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
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