The box office performance of Top Gun: Maverick has been nothing short of amazing as its second-weekend take of $90 million and a 29% decrease represented the best second-weekend decline for a film opening to over $100 million. This was coming off of a $160 million Memorial Day weekend opening and it looks like fans were doing some prep heading into the sequel because 1986’s Top Gun saw a surge in views the week Top Gun: Maverick arrived in theaters.
Per Samba TV, 2 million U.S. households watched Top Gun during the week that Top Gun: Maverick arrived in theaters. The film is available on Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video but I’m guessing most of the viewing came from the former. It would make sense that fans would want to revisit the original before seeing the sequel given the 36-year gap but I imagine a new generation of fans were also discovering it before heading to see Maverick’s next adventure. You can check out the Samba TV stat below!
Top Gun, directed by Tony Scott, was released in 1986 and it was inspired by an article titled “Top Guns”, written by Ehud Yonay and published in California magazine three years earlier. Tom Cruise plays Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a young naval aviator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. He, alongside his Radar Intercept Officer, LTJG Nick “Goose” Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards), is given the chance to train at the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, the film was a huge commercial hit, grossing $357.2 million worldwide against a mere $15 million budget. It’s truly a pop culture mainstay and, 36 years later, its sequel has surpassed it in almost every way possible. Truly a legacy sequel that respects the nostalgia of its predecessor while crafting its own independent story. Top Gun also stars Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, and Tom Skeritt.
Did YOU give Top Gun a rewatch before seeing Top Gun: Maverick?