Oscars Best Picture nominee profile: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ would be one of the biggest box office hits ever to win

After a dozen-year development period that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the first sequel to 1986’s “Top Gun” — “Top Gun: Maverick” — finally saw the light of day last summer and proved to be an even bigger hit than its predecessor. Its box office total of just under $1.5 billion makes it the 12th highest-grossing film of all time, and it is now aiming to land behind 1997’s “Titanic” as the second most financially successful Best Picture Oscar winner ever. Since its general audience popularity has actually manifested in the form of prestigious awards recognition, it stands a strong chance of clearing the final hurdle.

Both “Top Gun: Maverick” and its Best Picture competitor, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” have made history this year as the first pair of sequels ever nominated against each other in the category. As one of only nine continuation films to ever contend for this award, “Top Gun: Maverick” follows “Toy Story 3” (2010) and “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015) as the third sequel to make it into a Best Picture lineup without its parent film having done so.

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“Top Gun: Maverick” finds franchise lead character Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) in a stagnant state as his incurably strong ego continually stunts his career development. Now past middle age, the test pilot can no longer avoid facing down his own mortality, and his vulnerabilities are completely uncovered after he takes on the new responsibility of preparing a group of young flyers for a dangerous mission.

The Oscar-nominated “Top Gun: Maverick” producing team consists of Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer. McQuarrie, who also shares in the film’s Best Adapted Screenplay bid, is the only past winner in the quartet, having previously been honored in the original writing category for “The Usual Suspects” (1995). Although Bruckheimer is an Oscars newcomer, he has collected 10 Primetime Emmys and three PGA Awards for producing the reality competition series “The Amazing Race.”

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Like “Top Gun,” “Top Gun: Maverick” has also received Oscar nominations for Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Original Song (“Hold My Hand”). The 1986 film notably conquered the last category with “Take My Breath Away,” which had previously reached the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Hold My Hand” is co-written and performed by Lady Gaga, who triumphed on her second song bid for “Shallow” (from “A Star Is Born,” 2018) after first being recognized for “Til It Happens to You” (from “The Hunting Ground,” 2015).

Included among the “Top Gun: Maverick” sound nominees are previous Oscar winners Mark Taylor (“1917,” 2019) and Mark Weingarten (“Dunkirk,” 2017), who both prevailed in the Best Sound Mixing category before it merged with Best Sound Editing in 2021. The film is also nominated for Best Visual Effects, with one of its artists — Scott R. Fisher — having already been honored in the category for “Interstellar” (2014) and “Tenet” (2020).

This article is a part of Gold Derby’s “Oscar nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2022 Best Picture nominees. 

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