Number nerds will know that the last time a weekend box-office race was this close also involved a Tom Cruise movie, when Minority Report and Lilo & Stitch opened to $36M back in 2002. Well he’s at it again this weekend, because in its fifth weekend of release Top Gun: Maverick tied at the top with Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.
Both tied at $30.5M for the weekend, although once every dollar has been found down the side of the sofa a winner should be declared sometime on Monday, although both remain success stories. Elvis because it opened above-expectations in a competitive marketplace full of dinosaurs, spacemen, and a direct rival for the older demographic in moviegoers with the Top Gun sequel, and Maverick because it soared past the $1 billion mark worldwide.
Overseas Elvis shook up a further $20M for a worldwide cume of $50.5M, while Top Gun: Maverick earned $44.5M from international markets to become only the second film in the pandemic era to cross the billion dollar mark at the box-office after Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Even though Jurassic World Dominion dropped two places to number three it still reached the $300M domestic landmark with a $26.4M weekend. Add to that the international total, which stands at $443.9M, including over $100M from the sought-after Chinese marketplace, and the derided threequel should still have a shot at following Maverick beyond the billion with a tally that now stands at $746.7M worldwide.
Continuing the good news in terms of weekend performance, Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone dialled into the horror fans desire to see some summer scares by overperforming to the tune of $23.4M. The really-rather-excellent supernatural tale, which stars Ethan Hawke as a mask wearing serial killer, only cost $18M to make, but has already grossed $35.9M worldwide. With a few weeks to go until Jordan Peele’s Nope hits the marketplace, word-of-mouth and counter-programming should ensure this one has legs.
As always you can find the complete chart rundown, including details of Lightyear‘s spluttering second week performance by heading to BoxOfficeMojo.
