Top Gun: Maverick set to have the biggest box office opening of Tom Cruise's career

Top Gun: Maverick
(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Top Gun: Maverick is set to mark a career milestone for leading man Tom Cruise – the long-awaited sequel is on track to have the actor's biggest worldwide box office opening of his career.

Deadline reports that the movie is expected to make $180 million at the worldwide box office this weekend, as well as setting a personal record for Cruise at the US box office with a projected intake of $92 million and $100 million. The sequel to 1986's Top Gun is also likely to become one of the top 10 Memorial Day releases.

The movie is booked to show at 4,727 theaters in the US and Canada, which is more sites than recent blockbuster releases Spider-Man: No Way Home or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – those Marvel titles were shown at 4,336 and 4,534 locations, respectively. 

Top Gun 2 was originally meant to release in July 2021, so the sequel has been a long time coming. After premieres in San Diego, London, and Tokyo, followed by screenings at Cannes Film Festival, the movie currently has a 97% certified fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the movie sees Cruise back as test pilot and flight instructor Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. He's joined by Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, and Val Kilmer. 

Top Gun: Maverick soars onto the big screen on May 27. For more viewing inspiration, fill out your watch list with our guide to all the most exciting movie release dates in 2022.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.