‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Outperforms ‘Doctor Strange 2’ At Domestic Box Office

“Top Gun: Maverick” soared past “Doctor Strange 2” at the domestic box office over the weekend, becoming the country’s highest-grossing movie of the year.

The Tom Cruise-starrer made some noise this weekend when it accumulated $401.8 million in North American ticket sales and claimed the no. 1 spot at the domestic box office while outpacing Benedict Cumberbatch’s Marvel movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Crossing the $400 million mark is a big feat in the pandemic era, and “Top Gun: Maverick” was able to do it just a little more than two weeks after its premiere on May 27.

The milestone made Cruise’s film the top-grossing domestic movie of 2022. Meanwhile, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” could also achieve the same box office success soon since it is already at $398.1 million.

It should be noted that “Maverick” was not the first film to cross $400 million domestically during the pandemic era. The title belongs to another Marvel offering, Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The superhero flick secured $573 million domestically during its theatrical run.

Internationally, the Joseph Kosinski-helmed, aviation-themed movie has already grossed a massive $783.8 million, beating pre-launch expectations and setting a record for films outside of the superhero genre.

Industry analysts predicted that the sequel to the 1986 original has a big chance of passing $900 million by the end of its theatrical run. They also suggested that surpassing the coveted $1 billion mark was not out of the question, according to Variety.

Considering that it has not been that long since “Maverick” was released, only time will tell if it can maintain its lead at the box office when its big rivals arrive. “Thor: Love and Thunder” is scheduled for July 8, while “Minions: The Rise of Gru” is coming out on July 1.

The $170 million-budgeted movie picks up decades after the original “Top Gun,” and it still follows Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as he navigates the life of a leader training a new batch of cocky aviators for top-level assignments.

Aside from Cruise, “Top Gun: Maverick” also stars Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Jon Hamm and Jennifer Connelly. Val Kilmer, who played Iceman in the original movie, also reprised his role for the sequel.