Top Gun: Maverick continues to defy expectations. This spectacular sequel, thirty-six years in the making, is one of the biggest grossing movies of all time. It’s all thanks to the genius of its legendary star, Tom Cruise. Now 60 years old, Cruise is a multi-generational icon; a screen legend with matinee idol good looks, Cruise has the wherewithal to deliver big on expectations.

Three months after being released, Top Gun: Maverick is still burning red hot. A power-packed July and August at the box office have propelled this supersonic action blockbuster into the record books. In the US alone, Top Gun recently screened at 3181 locations, including all of the country’s premium screen venues. Created in combination with Skydance and Paramount, Tom Cruise’s epic effort looks set to break the $700 million barrier in the US and the $1.4 billion barrier globally.

So why is Top Gun: Maverick such a huge hit? The on-screen presence of Cruise is magnetic – there’s no doubt about it. Add in the Mach 10+ speed, the most sophisticated high-tech fighter jets on the planet, and a mission-impossible-style scenario, and you’ve got a recipe for success. It helps that Tom Cruise hardly looks a day over 30 and is already 60 years old. He holds his own among the youngsters in the cast, and his magnetic smile delivers a knockout punch.

While most of us will never ever get to experience the awesome adrenaline-loaded fury behind the throttle of an F-18, or an F-16, it’s possible to experience an inkling of what it may be like when you play Top Gun Online Slots at Mansion Casino Canada. This 5×3 reel slot features 243 ways to win, and it’s driven by the blockbuster 1980s hit flick of the same name.

Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro lists Top Gun: Maverick as the #1 movie for 2022 in terms of box office worldwide takings. This comes as no surprise. The top 10 movies include a mix of animated films like Minions: The Rise of Gru and Sonic The Hedgehog 2, as well as superhero stories such as Dr. Strange in the Multi-Verse of Madness, the Batman, and Thor: Love and Thunder. But for this year, the stage belongs to Top Gun: Maverick.

How Popular Was the Original Top Gun?

The original Top Gun was a sensation when it was released in 1986. It was the highest-grossing movie of the year and made Tom Cruise a global superstar. The movie took $179 million at the US box office and $353 million globally. In terms of today’s money, that would be the equivalent of billions of dollars. Not bad for a movie with a then-unknown star and a relatively modest budget of just $15 million.

Tom Cruise waited 36 years to make the sequel to Top Gun. This four-decade interval is one of the longest ever in the history of filmmaking between movies. It paid off, as evidenced by the hugely popular reviews of this latest blockbuster across the board. The movie was ready in 2020 but had to be pushed back several years. It was a heart-to-heart discussion between Tom Cruise and Top Gun: Maverick Director Joe Kosinski that first got the idea in motion back in 2013. Additional insights by Christopher McQuarrie (who co-wrote Top Gun Maverick) and Anthony Edwards (Goose) factored heavily into the equation.

Before Top Gun: Maverick, Tom Cruise already had a long and distinguished career in Hollywood. His movies grossed over $3.5 billion at the US box office and over $9.3 billion globally. His most successful movie to date is Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which grossed $695 million in the US and $781 million globally. Other successful movies include War of The Worlds ($591 million US, $812 million global), The Mummy Returns ($433 million US, $433 million global), and Minority Report ($352 million US, $358 global).