‘Top Gun: Maverick’ expected to be major box-office hit

Yahoo Finance anchors Seana Smith, Dave Briggs, and Rachelle Akuffo discuss the big box office expectations for "Top Gun: Maverick" and whether or not it will bring more people back to movie theaters.

Video transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- Your reputation precedes you.

- I have to admit, I wasn't expecting an invitation back.

- They're called orders, Maverick.

DAVE BRIGGS: Oh, can't wait. 36 years after the original "Top Gun" inverted its way in the movie lexicon forever, Maverick is back. After several delays in reviews, they have been spectacular, Rotten Tomatoes currently scores "Maverick" at 97%. This could be Tom Cruise's biggest opening ever. Could even eclipse his biggest box office draw ever, which is remarkable. Certainly feels like a target-rich environment. Neither of you get that reference because you've not seen "Top Gun," so it flies over your head.

But if it hits $100 million, which analysts think it could, it will blow away Tom Cruise's all-time biggest opening.

SEANA SMITH: And there's speculation out there that it will even be the biggest opening for Memorial Day weekend. So I haven't seen "Top Gun." You're right. I've seen some clips of certain scenes. My husband is a huge fan. He actually taught our two and a half-year-old about the inverted scene. So I know that part at least, but it has a very, very loyal following. So I would not be surprised if it does break some records.

And Rachelle, that also speaks really to the larger piece of this. And that's the fact that people aren't nervous about going back to the theaters if, in fact, we do see a record-setting number of people heading to see this movie over the next couple of days.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And you figure it really has to be something big to make people really want to go back to the movies. A lot of people are wondering, will it be "Avatar?" Like, what's going to be that really big movie that brings people back. And they were very clever with this because it taps into the nostalgia of people who grew up in the 80s loving these movies, and it also introduces us to a new audience who have never seen some of these stunts and releasing this comeback for Tom Cruise with this franchise after all this time.

So I think it's a smart move. It sort of bookends both sorts of audiences. And you know, people are really ready for something. And if you're going to see some of these inverted plane shots, I mean, why not see it on the big screen where you can really make the most of it?

DAVE BRIGGS: And the big question to your point is, older audiences, will they go to crowded movie theaters? Because they will be crowded. Younger people I think will. If older people do, you might see $100 million, and you might see $800 million globally, which will be the all-time Tom Cruise record. He turned 60-- 60 in July.

And by the way, for you two, can stream "Top Gun." Paramount, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV. There is still time even though it's playing right now.

SEANA SMITH: Yeah, although you were making the hard sell that this is a movie that you suggest is best seen in the theaters.

DAVE BRIGGS: 100%. "Maverick" needs to be seen in the theaters.

SEANA SMITH: OK. We'll see. I haven't been to the theater since pre-COVID, so if I do go back, this will be big on a lot of levels.

DAVE BRIGGS: Agh. Get back out there.

SEANA SMITH: All right, well.