"Top Gun 2" tops North American box office, and Cruise is expected to receive $100 million in dividends

"Top Gun: Maverick" starring Tom Cruise was a box office hit as expected, with an estimated three-day weekend in North America of $124 million, and a four-day (Memorial Day holiday) estimate of $151 million, making it the second-best opening of the period, second only to "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" with $153 million.

The film also became the first work in Tom Cruise's career to have a North American box office of over 100 million, and the third film this year to have a box office of over 100 million after "The Batman" and "Doctor Strange 2".

For producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Top Gun 2's $124 million is the second-best opening of his career, behind 2006's Pirates of the Caribbean 2 with $135 million and 2007's Pirates of the Caribbean 3 with $114.7 million (Disney insists the film grossed $153 million in four days).

36 years ago, "Top Gun" was released in North America on May 16, with an opening box office of $8.193 million, a total of $180 million in North America, and a total of $357 million worldwide. According to the current trend, "Top Gun 2" will definitely double the growth.

Although it has been 36 years since the last episode, and 21% of the audience are over 55 years old, the film has received surprisingly good reviews: Rotten Tomatoes has a freshness rating of 97%, a popcorn index of 99%, and a CinemaScore audience rating of A+. Nearly half of the interviewed audiences said that the film exceeded their expectations, and another 30% of the audience said they would watch the film again in the theater.

The film also earned $124 million in 62 overseas markets (excluding North America), setting a career-best record for Tom Cruise in 32 markets and achieving the best live-action film opening in Paramount's history in 18 markets.

"Top Gun 2" also achieved the best opening performance for the major studio since "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction" in 2014.

According to foreign media reports, Tom Cruise's salary for "Top Gun: Maverick" was 12.5 million US dollars, but the box office of the film exceeded the deadline, and he has the opportunity to get dividends of more than 100 million US dollars.