SAG Awards: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ flies high by winning stunt ensemble trophy

Marcus James Dixon
·3 min read
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As predicted, “Top Gun: Maverick” wins the Best Film Stunt Ensemble trophy at the 2023 SAG Awards. Heading into the Screen Actors Guild gala, Gold Derby’s Experts, Editors, Top 24 Users and All-Star Users collectively had the movie in first place to prevail. And why not? The Paramount Pictures blockbuster is a Best Picture Oscar contender that has been recognized by more industry guilds than any other film this year. Its co-nominees during the SAG ceremony on Sunday, February 26 were “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “The Woman King,” “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “The Batman.” (See the complete SAG winners list.)

Released 36 years after the original “Top Gun” (1986), the Tom Cruise-fronted sequel proved to be the perfect mix of nostalgia and action for audiences both old and young. In no uncertain terms, this was a bonafide box office mega-hit. Joseph Kosinski received a DGA Award nomination for directed the high-flying aviator flick, which finds Maverick returning to the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program as a trainer.

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“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was second place in Gold Derby’s SAG Awards odds. Following the death of Chadwick Boseman in 2020, filmmaker Ryan Coogler did the unthinkable and made a sequel that both paid tribute to him and advanced the story. “Wakanda Forever” focuses on T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) and mother Ramonda (SAG Award nominee Angela Bassett) as they fight back against a new water-based threat from the civilization of Talokan. The original “Black Panther” won for stunts in 2018.

Coming in third place was “The Woman King.” Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s female empowerment movie from Sony Pictures Releasing took audiences by storm when it was released in September. It tells the story of General Nanisca (SAG Award nominee Viola Davis) in the 1820s as she trains the next generation of young warriors in the West African kingdom of Dahomey. “The Woman King” was hoping to accomplish what “Wonder Woman” did in in 2017 and 2020 by claiming the stunt trophy.

SEE SAG Awards 2023: Watch our immediate reactions in a one-hour LIVE streaming post-show

Next up in our stunt rankings was “Avatar: The Way of Water.” James Cameron‘s highly anticipated sequel swam into theaters a whopping 13 years after the original “Avatar” (2009). It remained at the top of the box office for two months straight and has become one of the most successful domestic movies of all time. Note that the original “Avatar” was completely snubbed by the SAG Awards the last time around, so a stunt trophy for “The Way of Water” would have been sweet justice.

Finally, “The Batman” rounded out Gold Derby’s stunt predictions. Writer/director Matt Reeves brings a gritty noir style to his version of the caped crusader, with critics and audiences eating it up in theaters. In this reboot, Robert Pattinson‘s Bruce Wayne uncovers corruption in Gotham City while coming into contact with popular antagonists like Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), the Riddler (Paul Dano) and the Penguin (Colin Farrell). This would have been the first stunt victory for a “Batman” film since “The Dark Knight” in 2008.

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