Top Gun: Maverick is killing. Killing. The film took the No. 1 spot at the box despite there being a whole lot of solid competition. The flick made another $30.5 million, bringing its five-week domestic sales total to $522 million. Wow.
Tom Cruise and the Gang have now made just over $1 billion worldwide. Amazing. Making a billion pre-COVID was a big deal: Making a billion nowadays is almost unthinkable. Especially for a film with no magical heroes in tights involved.
Also at the Box
Baz Luhrman’s much anticipated Elvis opened strong, finishing neck and neck with Maverick to take the No. 2 spot at the box.
The reviews aren’t the hottest for this one, with Elvis landing a score of just 63/100 on Metacritic. Oof. That being said, I’ve heard that a lot of folks are really enjoying this movie. I don’t think it’s going to be the massive hit a lot of pundits thought it would be, but Luhrman movies tend to have a long tail.
Jurassic World: Dominion finished third with another $26 million in sales, bringing its 17-day sales total to $302 million in the U.S. and $747 million worldwide. People love dinosaurs. Always. I don’t see that ever changing.
The new Ethan Hawke horror film, The Black Phone, had a strong opening weekend, selling $23.4 million over its first few days of release. Reviews have not been so great, but word of mouth is very strong with this one. Don’t be surprised if it keeps selling well over the next month or so.
And finally, rounding out this past weekend’s Top 5, is Lightyear. This one has been underperforming in a major way, selling just $17 million over its second weekend. Ouch. The Pixar film seemed like a sure-thing massive hit. So far, Lightyear, a prequel to Toy Story, has made just $152 million worldwide in 10 days. Predictions were more than double this.
New this week
Lots of limited releases are starting to expand, making for a pretty busy time at the movies.
There’s even a reissue of David Lynch’s Lost Highway kicking around in theaters. I personally think everyone should go see that flick, but let’s keep talking about what else is out there.
The big releases this week are Minions: The Rise of Gru and Mr. Malcolm’s List. Neither of these excite me, but I think Minions will be fun and probably fill a lot of seats.
There are a whole lot of smaller flicks hitting screens as well, including The Forgiven, Pacerville, Clara Sola, Code Name Banshee, Hallelujah, Accepted, and Sniper: The White Raven. That’s a whole lot of movies that I don’t think anyone is going to care too much about. Maybe I’m wrong in this opinion, but I think we’ve hit the point where there’s just too much. Too many new films, too much new TV. Too much mediocrity.
ScreenRant
What are your all-time summer jams? What are the films you revisit every summer? I have a handful, starting with childhood favorites Encino Man and Major League. I used to watch those VHS tapes on a loop every summer.
Grease was always playing at my house on hot summer nights when I was a kid, and once I finally got a copy of White Men Can’t Jump, it never left the rotation.
A few more summertime classics I usually watch every year include Friday, Dazed and Confused, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Kids, and Superbad.
Oh, and on the hottest days of the year where you refuse to go outside: Home Alone.
