Top Gun Maverick gives Tom Cruise first $100m Opening Weekend

The new Top Gun film has given Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise his first $100 million (£79 million) opening weekend. He reprises his role as US Navy pilot Pete "Maverick" Mitchell from the original 1986 film Top Gun: Maverick. According to Paramount Pictures, the sequel earned an estimated $124 million (£98 million) in ticket sales in its first three days in North American Theatres.

This figure has been raised to an estimated $248 million globally (196m). "These results are ridiculously, over-the-top fantastic. I'm happy for everyone. I'm happy for the company, for Tom, for the filmmakers." said Chris Aronson, Paramount's president of domestic distribution. 

Cruise's previous biggest opening weekend for a film was in 2005, when War of the Worlds grossed $64 million (£50 million).The 59-year-second old's outing as Maverick also had the fourth highest opening of any film in the Covid-era, trailing only Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and The Batman. He was recently joined by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for the UK premiere of the new film.