Three weekends after its release, Top Gun: Maverick — a woke-free, patriotic ode to excellence, masculinity, the racial melting pot, and smug-free blockbuster entertainment — continues to overperform, even while competing with Jurassic World Dominion’s theatrical debut.
After an amazing (and record) hold of about -35 percent in weekend two, Top Gun: Maverick is still holding strong this weekend (weekend three) with a drop of just -44 percent.
This is even more impressive because Jurassic World Dominion is hitting its debut numbers. This means people are not going to see Top Gun: Maverick by default or because nothing else interests them. Even with strong dinosaur competition, people still want to see Top Gun.
According to early projections (which have underestimated its performance these past two weeks), Top Gun 2 will rake in another $50 million this weekend, putting its total domestic take at $394 million.
For context, Marvel’s latest hit, Dr. Strange in the Multiverse, sits at $398 million after its sixth weekend.
Top Gun 2 will either pass $400 million this weekend or Monday. Better still, this sucker should easily cross the half-billion domestic mark in the next ten days.
No one expected this.
No one.
If Top Gun 2 had debuted at $50 million, that would have been a win. Instead, it’s hitting $50 million in weekend three. Had it ended its domestic run at $175 million, that would have been considered a win. Instead, it will more than double that. Word of mouth is insane, something I see within my own family and extended family. And the reaction is almost always the same. Not only is the movie great fun — exciting, funny, moving — there are no woke sucker punches stealing away the magic, no obnoxious political points, no lectures, no off-putting smugness.
As I wrote in my review Friday, Top Gun: Maverick delivers. It not only lives up to the hype; it exceeds the hype. People can’t wait to see it. Better still, they can’t wait to see it again. The home video sales should be through the roof. My theory has always been that home video sales collapsed with the quality of movies. Hollywood just isn’t making movies people want to own anymore, to watch again and again, which is the only reason to buy a DVD or Blu-ray. I’ll bet Top Gun 2 blasts off on home video.
Globally, and without counting this weekend, Top Gun 2 sits at $609 million— including $265 million from overseas, which again proves all those filmmakers liars who claim pro-America doesn’t sell overseas.
Jurassic World Dominion is defying terrible reviews with a debut domestic opening of $133 million, which is a tad below its predecessor, 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($148 million), and well below the $209 million debut earned by the original Jurassic World (2015).
Fallen Kingdom went on to gross $417 million domestic. This new chapter probably won’t reach or top that.
As of right now, Top Gun 2 looks like it could be the top domestic hit released in 2022. Serious competition will arrive in the form of Black Panther 2 (Nov 11), Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8), and Avatar 2 (Dec 16).
All eyes will be on Buzz Lightyear, which is opening next weekend. How many families want to expose their little, innocent, Toy Story-loving kids to a gay kiss? How many parents will want to explain human sexuality to their six-year-olds?
Should be interesting.