Top Gun: Maverick passes another major box-office milestone – and dethrones Black Panther

Top Gun: Maverick
(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

Top Gun: Maverick is showing no signs of slowing down. Buoyed by National Cinema Day in the US and UK, the legacy sequel to the ‘80s classic has soared past another box-office milestone – and has a modern Disney movie in its sights.

As per Variety, Top Gun: Maverick has become only the sixth movie to cross the $700m threshold at the US box office. It’s now edged ahead of Black Panther to claim the fifth position behind Avatar ($760 million), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($811 million), Avengers: Endgame ($858 million), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936 million).

Maverick might not be done there. It’s now just $9 million shy of overtaking Frozen 2 to take 11th spot on the list of highest-grossing movies of all time. Cracking the top 10 is an outside bet – Fast and Furious 7 is $75 million clear – but the movie’s run has been a remarkable success story at a time when there’s still a sense of unease about the long-term viability of cinemas.

Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski recently told The Hollywood Reporter of actor Val Kilmer’s response to seeing his Iceman return scene for the first time.

"He was so happy and so moved by it that it made us all feel really good and that maybe we had gotten it right,” Kosinski told the trade.

Top Gun: Maverick is now available on PVOD, though no Paramount Plus release date is forthcoming. Another Tom Cruise movie, The Mummy, had its own surprise success – cracking the top 10 on Netflix in recent days.

For more from the streamer, check out our collection of the best Netflix movies you can watch right now.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.