Top Gun: Maverick Sets New Records for Memorial Day, Tom Cruise

By Chris Kavan - 06/01/22 at 11:04 AM CT

Tom Cruise had a Memorial Day Weekend for the record books as Top Gun: Maverick took off into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, animated newcomer Bob's Burgers: The Movie settled into a comfortable third-place position and Doctor Strange flirted with a domestic total of $375 million. As for the MPAA - while they were right on time this week, they offered up no new wide releases.

Teased for audiences all the way back in 2020, Top Gun: Maverick finally made its way to theaters and it turns out the wait was more than worth it. Riding a wave a nostalgia, patriotic fervor and positive critical buzz (97% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), Maverick made a huge impact over Memorial Day Weekend and gave action star Tom Cruise the best opening of his long Hollywood career. With a $126.7 million opening, Maverick was the first $100 million plus opening for Cruise and with $160.5 million including Memorial Day, blew past The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($153 million) to take the holiday crown. That also represented the fourth best opening of the year behind the MCU and The Batman films. Audiences were just as receptive as critics, awarding the film a rare "A+" Cinemascore. Unsurprisingly, 55% of said audience was 40 or over, meaning the long-awaited sequel to this popular 80s film brought back a lot of good memories. Cruise was joined by Miles Teller, Val Kilmer, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Parnell, Monica Barbaro, Lewis Pullman and Jay Ellis among others. And the film proved no slouch overseas, raking in another $109.6 million - even without Russia or China in the picture. With over $270 million worldwide, Maverick is sure to keep flying high through June even as it faces competition from Jurassic World: Dominion, Lightyear and Elvis.

In second place, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness held up as well as it could, dipping 50.3% in the face of Maverick for a $16 million weekend and $20.3 million for the holiday frame. That landed the film just shy of $375 million with a final tally of $374.7 million, though it has certainly passed that milestone by now. Internationally it is also just shy of a major milestone with $497.9 million and worldwide is just under $875 million as well. All told, the MCU continues to prove a major player and we'll see how audiences react to Thor: Love and Thunder in just over a month.

In third place the animated Bob's Burgers: The Movie, a spinoff of the animated show, came away with a $12.4 million weekend and a $14.8 million holiday total. For a film that was always going to appeal more to a build-in audience rather than a wide swath of the theater-going public, I think that is a good opening. Critics helped, with an 85% Fresh rating. We'll see if audiences got their cravings out of the way opening weekend or if it can sustain any kind of longevity. It will have to do it on the domestic front as its international presence is a non-starter (a whopping $7,000).

In fourth place Downton Abbey: A New Era took a significant drop of 63.8% from its opening for a $5.78 million weekend and $7.4 million including Memorial Day. That gives it a domestic total of $30 million while its international total is a bit better with $40.7 million for a worldwide total of $70.7 million.

Rounding out the top five, animated film The Bad Guys slipped just 28.6% to bring in $4.38 million - $5.6 million over the holiday - and improving its total to $82.3 million. With $116.2 million overseas, the film is just shy of $200 million worldwide and will certainly reach that this week.

Outside the top five: The Lost City was the only film to gain an audience in the top 12 - and did so by a nearly 30% jump into 8th place with a $2.27 million holiday total. That was enough for the action/adventure film to leap passed the $100 million mark with a new $102.2 million total. Good on Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock!

Next week Maverick should have no problem flying away with the top spot one again as horror film Watcher and nature documentary Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story shouldn't provide much of a challenge.

While the box office certainly provided plenty of action, the same can't be said for the MPAA Ratings Bulletin which, sadly, is once again lacking in any major films. So please enjoy the short list and hope next week brings better things to come.

MPAA Official Logo

BARBARIAN

Rated R for some strong violence and gore, disturbing material, language throughout and nudity.


CRYO

Rated PG-13 for violence, bloody images and brief strong language.


THE DEER KING

Rated R for some violence.


LEAVE NO TRACES

Rated R for language, some violent/disturbing content and brief nudity.


M&A

Rated PG for suggestive material.


OUT OF THE BLUE

Rated R for sexual content, language and some violence.


ROSALINE

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material and brief strong language.


RUNNING THE BASES

Rated PG for thematic content, some violence and mild language.


SEARCHING 2

Rated PG-13 for some strong violence, language, teen drinking, and thematic material.


SOMEBODY I USED TO KNOW

Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout and brief drug use.

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