‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Becomes Most-Watched Film Premiere Ever on Paramount+

After becoming the biggest summer blockbuster of the post-shutdown box office, Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” is lighting up the streaming charts as the studio reported that Tom Cruise’s sequel to his 1986 fighter pilot classic had the highest opening weekend viewership of any film released on Paramount+.

Released on the streaming service on Dec. 22 after grossing $1.48 billion worldwide at the box office, “Top Gun: Maverick” surpassed the previous viewership record for Paramount+ held by “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” by 60%. Paramount also says that interest in “Maverick” spilled over to Cruise’s other blockbusters, as viewership for the original “Top Gun” quadrupled during the Christmas weekend while viewership for the six “Mission: Impossible” films increased by 140%

“We are thrilled to see a continuation of the film’s massive record-breaking success by becoming the #1 most-watched movie premiere on Paramount+,” said Tanya Giles, Chief Programming Officer for Paramount Streaming. “We continue to benefit from the highly anticipated theatrical hits from Paramount Pictures that come to the service delivering fans a new way to continue to watch and re-watch their favorite movies.”

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“Top Gun: Maverick” stands as this year’s strongest combination of critical and commercial success. Critically, the film earned rave reviews from film critics and audiences alike, earning the title of Best Film of 2022 by the National Board of Review along with two Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and Best Original Song – Motion Picture and Critics Choice Award Nominations for Best Film and Best Actor. It is considered a heavy favorite to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar next month.

And at the box office, “Maverick” earned the biggest Memorial Day weekend opening in industry history and became one of the top 5 highest grossing domestic films before inflation adjustment with $718.7 million grossed. The film stands as Paramount’s second highest grossing film in studio history behind only “Titanic.”

At a time when theatrical windows have been chopped short and films are getting digital on-demand and streaming releases faster than ever, Cruise negotiated for “Maverick” to get theatrical exclusivity for at least four months, a move that was rewarded with one of the longest box office runs of the past decade as the film stayed in the top 5 on the charts until its 16th weekend in theaters.

“The runaway success of this film across theatrical, digital and now in streaming is an undeniable proof point demonstrating the power of Paramount’s multi-platform release strategy,” Brian Robbins, Paramount’s president/CEO said in a statement. “Across all our 2022 titles, and now with ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ our studio has unlocked the value of variable windowing that streaming provides to augment a film’s overall success.” 

It is likely that Cruise will keep standing tall on the box office charts over the next two years, as the two-part “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning” is set to be released in in July 2023 and June 2024.

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