We’re deep into the summer movie season, and among the high-profile releases available to watch at a theater near you is Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise’s return to the role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell over 30 years after his first outing as the character. As we finish off June 2022 and enter July, Cruise has penned a sweet message highlighting how Maverick and other movies have been killing it at the box office recently.
Whether you’re interesting in watching/re-watching Top Gun: Maverick, or would rather buy a ticket to something like Jurassic World Dominion, Lightyear or Elvis, there’s no shortage of cinematic entertainment to check out right now. To that end, Cruise shared the following words on his Twitter page commending not just these recent movies and the studios behind them, but also the people who’ve gone out to see these releases on the big screen.
To all the films in release, to all the studios, and to all the exhibitors: congratulations. To the audience: thank you for venturing out and allowing us to entertain you. See you at the movies.
Tom Cruise’s message comes shortly after it was confirmed that Top Gun: Maverick, which was widely released on May 27, has become the first 2022 movie to cross $1 billion. It’s now the highest-grossing movie of the year, with Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness sitting at second place with a little over $947 million. Other cinematic heavy hitters this year have included The Batman, Uncharted and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and there are plenty of other big movies left to hit the big screen in the latter half of the year, including Minions: The Rise of Gru, Thor: Love and Thunder and DC League of Super-Pets in July. For his part, Cruise sent his congratulations to all the movies that are playing in theaters now, and told the masses that he’ll continue joining them seeing these offerings.
Narrowing the focus to Top Gun: Maverick specifically, crossing $1 billion is just one of the many financial accomplishments under this movie’s proverbial belt. It’s also surpassed Mission: Impossible – Fallout as Cruise’s highest-grossing movie, as well as overtook Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End to snag the highest-grossing opening Memorial Day weekend. As if commercial success wasn’t enough, Maverick has also been met with critical acclaim, resting nicely at 97% among professional reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes and boasting a 99% Audience Score. CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg gave Maverick 4 out of 5 stars in his review.
While Top Gun: Maverick’s theatrical run doesn’t look like it’ll be ending anytime soon, Paramount+ subscribers will be able to stream the blockbuster sometime later this year. Those curious about what moves are left to come out this year should look through the 2022 release schedule.