More than 35 years after the cult original, “Top Gun 2: Maverick” not only became a six-time Oscar-nominated critic and audience favorite, but also hit the box office in droves. With a worldwide gross of almost $1.5 billion, it was not only the highest-grossing film of 2022 in a long time (before being replaced by “Avatar 2”, which opened at the end of the year), but also the highest-grossing film in Tom Cruise’s hit series Career.
And indeed, the cinema success of “Top Gun 2” – a whole year (!) after the cinema release – is still not over. In some corners of the world, the action spectacle is still running on the big screen despite the long-established home theater evaluation, for example in Japan, where the sequel is particularly popular. And these perennial qualities have now led to that “Maverick” has become the most successful Tom Cruise movie in the Japanese market with a box office equivalent of US$101.5 million.
In the Land of the Rising Sun, this title was previously held by the 2003 landmark hit “The Last Samurai”, which was the undisputed leader in Japanese cruising, not least because of its subject matter and setting. Standing next to it “Top Gun 2” in Japan has also become the most successful film from the traditional “Transformers” and “Mission: Impossible” studio Paramount.
In fact, Japan is the second largest contributor to the Top Gun: Maverick global box office outside the United Statesjust behind the UK, which brought in $103.5 million.