‘Top Gun: Maverick’ passes RM4.4b mark, Tom Cruise’s highest-grossing film

LOS ANGELES • “Top Gun: Maverick” passed US$1 billion (RM4.4 billion) in global ticket sales, according to Paramount Pictures, becoming the highest-grossing film ever for actor Tom Cruise and marking the best year for the studio since 2014.

The film has grossed more than US$520 million in North America and more than US $486 million internationally, Paramount said on Monday in an email. It’s the biggest movie for the studio, part of Paramount Global, since “Transformers: Age of Extinction” in 2014.

The picture, co-produced and co-financed with Skydance Media, was the only major release to exceed expectations last weekend, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, which predicts consumer spending may slow amid soaring inflation. That’s despite a packed and diverse slate of upcoming theatrical releases.

Through the weekend, North American ticket sales for all movies have more than tripled to US$3.6 billion in 2022 from a year earlier. Revenue remains about a third below 2019 levels, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

Meanwhile, “Elvis”, a Warner Bros film about the iconic singer who rose to fame in the 1950s, debuted at the top of the North American box office, fending off competition from bigger-budget blockbusters released in previous weeks.

The movie made US$31.2 million in its opening weekend across 3,906 domestic theatres, according to data on Monday from Comscore Inc. The movie was forecast to make US$31 million to US$46 million by Boxoffice Pro.

“Lightyear”, a Pixar and Walt Disney Co movie that fell far short of estimates when it premiered last weekend, slid to fifth place, generating US$18.2 million at the domestic box office. It was behind “Top Gun: Maverick”, which made US$29.6 million over the weekend and has now sold more than US$1 billion in tickets worldwide. — Bloomberg / Pic by Bloomberg