Studio movies these days are IP driven, and the names you can use to draw the masses are dwindling. However, “Top Gun Maverick” proved Tom Cruise is still a major draw, even after his 40th year as an actor.
‘Maverick’ has just surpassed “Titanic” as the seventh-highest grossing film of all-time. It’s an incredible feat, especially in a “post-pandemic” world. Unless a re-release of the film occurs, it will be comfortably positioned at #7 for the remainder of its run.
Beyond that, the list of the top five domestic releases ever is mostly composed of films that have been released the 5 years or so, which alarmingly makes the case for inflation playing a major part in the highest-grossers list:
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($936 million)
“Avengers: Endgame” ($853 million)
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($804 million)
“Avatar” ($760 million)
“Black Panther” ($700 million)
“Top Gun: Maverick” ($662 million)
Of course, adjusted for inflation, “Titanic” actually made $1.2 billion in 2022 dollars, but let’s not complicate things too much. I’ve been vouching for total tickets sold to be the true indicator of the all-time box-office list, but nobody wants to really do the dirty work to figure that one out.
Back to ‘Maverick.’ Even Quentin Tarantino is a fan, saying:
I fucking love Top Gun: Maverick. I thought it was fantastic. I saw it at the theaters. … That and [Steven] Spielberg’s West Side Story both provided a true cinematic spectacle, the kind that I’d almost thought that I wasn’t going to see anymore. It was fantastic.
My personal “Best Tom Cruise Performances:”
Magnolia, Collateral, Born on the Fourth of July, Risky Business, The Color of Money, A Few Good Men, Minority Report, Rain Man, Eyes Wide Shut and … Tropic Thunder.