Tom Cruise said “See you at the movies,†and he meant it. Impossible flying machine epic (and definitely not a dying dream, wink wink) Top Gun: Maverick has broken yet another box office record, surpassing Black Panther as the fifth-highest grossing movie ever in North America. According to Variety, Goose Jr. and company hit $701 million in domestic sales this weekend, passing T’Challa’s record of $700.4 million. It’s also the only movie to be number one on both Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. The next record Maverick can take aim at is Avatar’s for $760 million domestic. But James Cameron won’t go down without a fight (this time), as Avatar is getting rereleased this month.
Globally, Top Gun: Maverick is the 12th-highest grossing film, just shy of Frozen II. If they really want to get all the money, Paramount should edit back in some of the footage of actors barfing when they hit 12 G’s in the cockpit. Elsa could never compete with that. Both Maverick and Sony’s rerelease of Spider-Man: No Way Home got a bump from the Labor Day holiday. “You’re welcome,†says unions.