TOP GUN MAVERICK/MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND THREAD | 126.7M 3-Day, 160.5M 4-Day. The biggest Memorial Day opening ever! | Doctor Strange 20.5M 4-Day, Bob's Burgers 14.8M

[John Marston]

Tom Cruise was a huge star from the 80s to the mid 2000s. I’m sure even many people who didn’t watch it in theaters went back and watched it to see the first film with this major star 

[LinksterAC]

2 minutes ago, excel1 said:

 

The point is that this isn't like Star Wars or even INDIANA JONES which has had merchandise on shelves for decades. It's like not this film is widely viewed on streaming services, etc. A perfect comparison for TOP GUN would be GHOSTBUSTERS, and we know that brand relaunch worked out.

Those aren't the only ways to assess the relevance of a movie, though. So the lack of evidence is therefore not evidence of a lack.

 

I guess I'd just point to anecdotes like mine, and this monstrous opening weekend to suggest that is indeed broadly popular--even among a segment of Millennials. 

 

Edit: Derp, just saw the moderation post. This will be my last word on this subject.

Edited May 27, 2022 by LinksterAC

[YM!]

Just now, Ozymandias said:

This is kinda a dumb argument, most people under 55 at the very least know what Top Gun is.  Combine that with the real buzzy reviews in addition to Tom Cruise firmly establishing himself as Hollywood's last real movie star, people are gonna go see it.

I’m Gen Z and watched Top Gun for the first time Monday. Prior to that, I was familiar with the Need for Speed line and Danger Zone, mainly because them being referenced in a lot of shit I watched as a kid (Family Guy, Robot Chicken, etc). Millennials and the older generation are definitely the driving force but more likely than not they’re getting their families to go to.

 

A movie opening to near 150m for a four day at least, shows there’s at the minimum some relevance.

[excel1]

1 minute ago, YourMother said:

I mean it’s OW alone is doing more than either Afterlife or 2016. Ghostbusters if anything has a loud fanbase but is far less relevant.

 

 

"What pre-release reasoning exists to make one think Top Gun in 2022 is any more popular today than Ghostbusters, E.T. or Back to the Future? "

 

 

[YM!]

Just now, excel1 said:

 

 

"What pre-release reasoning exists to make one think Top Gun in 2022 is any more popular today than Ghostbusters, E.T. or Back to the Future? "

 

 

Video sales, didn’t it do well on home video?

[Macleod]

There are two simple words (and the singular factor that none of the other retro-boots have) that are answers for any skepticism in this thread:

 

TOM CRUISE.  

[oMeriMombatti]

Saw this today in India, loved every second of it. This is the best movie of Tom Cruise's career and this is saying something. Really hoping it wins the summer ahead of JW, I know it's tough but I really hope it wins, it'll be totally deserved.

 

 

Also on a side note, is there a spoiler thread for this movie?

[Valonqar]

Haven't seen the movie yet but read lots of reactions and they are praising pretty much the same points:

 

jets are cool and action is incredible

Bromance - Cruise, Teller and Powell - rules

real emotions

good enough story

no politics 

 

What's not to like? This should have cross-generational appeal. Jets are timeless. Everyone loves good bromance. Cruise is supported by younger cast (same thing that keeps MI fresh for new generations). Etc. 

 

It's 8.7 from 20K on IMDB which is very strong start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2022 by Valonqar

[excel1]

Just now, YourMother said:

Video sales, didn’t it do well on home video?

 

From the 1980s. I am asking what evidence from the last 3-4 years exists that says TOP GUN was still highly relevant in pop culture. It doesn't seem as if there is anything that would make one definitively say "TG:M is going to perform decidedly better than BR49, Ghostbusters, Terminator, etc".

 

I do think the Cruise factor and general concept + combined with the studio push made this a high profile film no doubt, but I would personally say this is likely an example of reviews and WOM really taking things up a notch.

[TheDude391]

I think what's helping the buzz as well is all the people lukewarm/negative on the original LOVING the new one and highlighting that you can see it on its own, which helps younger viewers make that push to see it who maybe haven't actually seen the original.

 

Anecdotal but most of my friends haven't seen the original and didn't care for the trailers but wanna see it after the reviews since they won't feel like they're missing out now.

Edited May 27, 2022 by TheDude391

[AdrianL]

Truly bizarre. I've always thought Top Gun would be a $150m grosser in general. For it to do those kind of #s days... wow

Edited May 27, 2022 by AdrianL

[Firepower]

15 minutes ago, YourMother said:

I mean it’s OW alone is doing more than either Afterlife or 2016. Ghostbusters if anything has a loud fanbase but is far less relevant.

To be honest they never made true Ghostbusters 3 which would make much more money. First attempt to revive the franchise was surrounded by extremely negative reactions since the very first trailer and second attempt was a small Stranger Things type of movie about little kids in a small town and old cast are just cameos and were never shown in promo. What Sony did with the franchise was extremely incompetent to say the least.

Edited May 27, 2022 by Firepower

[Valonqar]

8 minutes ago, TheDude391 said:

I think what's helping the buzz as well is all the people lukewarm/negative on the original LOVING the new one and highlighting that you can see it on its own, which helps younger viewers make that push to see it who maybe haven't actually seen the original.

 

Anecdotal but most of my friends haven't seen the original and didn't care for the trailers but wanna see it after the reviews since they won't feel like they're missing out now.

 

WOM GUN: MAVERICK here we come!

Edited May 27, 2022 by Valonqar

[Daxtreme]

I still haven't seen TOP FUN

 

I guess I know what I'm doing this week-end

 

 

edit: Typo stays 

Edited May 27, 2022 by Daxtreme

[Macleod]

And frankly, it doesn't really matter whether everyone going to see this has seen the original.  The sign of any great movie (and any great marketing campaign) is that it should work on its own regardless of any attachment to anything else.  I've seen John Wick 2, for instance, but none of the other ones.  It worked fine.  

 

This movie was the closest thing to a sure thing we could get in this day and age -- but the most important factor of course is always MAKING A GOOD MOVIE.  And this definitely sounds like one!  Word of mouth is the icing on the cake that will push everything over the top.  

Edited May 27, 2022 by Macleod

[interiorgatordecorator]

Happy for tommy tom tom

hope he gets a 350 million budget for dead reckoning part 2 

 

 

[excel1]

I'd be curious to know what the expects vs. reality looked like for the last few major films to open with an RT score in the 90s or above. I feel like the difference between scoring an 80 and 95 in the eyes of avg. movie goers may be pretty significant. 

[Firepower]

10 minutes ago, excel1 said:

I do think the Cruise factor and general concept + combined with the studio push made this a high profile film no doubt, but I would personally say this is likely an example of reviews and WOM really taking things up a notch.

Reviews/WOM/Cruise factor isn't really enough to turn it into the highest OW in Cruise's career by far and maybe the highest Memorial Day weekend, especially after pandemic, popularity of the first one definitely plays the part here too.

[KJsooner]

What movie owns Memorial Day weekend record? The hangover pt. 2? 

[Valonqar]

9 minutes ago, Daxtreme said:

I still haven't seen TOP FUN

 

I guess I know what I'm doing this week-end

 

 

edit: Typo stays 

 

I watched recently for the first time. had to skip romance cause it was really bad and boring. I like romance but this one sucked. Also, Cruise is so tiny compared to his love interest, it's like Shrek and Puss in Boots where Cruise is Puss. 

 

Flights were nothign special though jets are cool period. Bro parts were good. 

Edited May 27, 2022 by Valonqar