Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament took a hiatus during the pandemic as movie theaters closed for the majority of 2020-2021 and theatrical day-and-date titles on both the big screen and studios’ respective streaming platforms became more prevalent. Coming back from that brink, the studios have largely returned to their theatrical release models and the downstream monies they can bring. Not to mention their power in launching IPs around the world with big global marketing campaigns. When it comes to evaluating the financial performance of top movies, it isn’t about what a film grosses at the box office. The true tale is told when production budgets, P&A, talent participations and other costs collide with box office grosses, and ancillary revenues from VOD to DVD and TV. To get close to that mysterious end of the equation, Deadline is repeating our Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament for 2022, using data culled by seasoned and trusted sources.

THE FILM

Top Gun: Maverick
Paramount/Skydance/New Republic

Paramount wanted to make a sequel to the 1986 Tom Cruise classic for more than 30 years, and it was former Paramount Pictures boss Jim Gianopulos who nailed the deal, the actor’s most lucrative of his career, with better terms than any Mission: Impossible movie. Cruise took to Joseph Kosinski’s pitch to direct the film using real actors in the fighter jets, the duo having worked already worked together on the sci-fi film Oblivion. A mini-flight school for the film’s thespians was put into place, with those actors playing pilots flying F18s with actual pilots, a process that didn’t occur on the first movie. David Ellison was a longtime fan of Top Gun, and co-financed the production for 25%. China’s Tencent was also expected to co-finance but dropped out, with New Republic taking over another 25% on the pic’s $177M net production costs (which included reshoots). Paramount covered the remaining 50%. During a time when cinemas were closed, Cruise wanted to make sure this movie was perfect, with reshoots occurring during the Covid umbrella. Originally, the pic’s post-production was on a course to meet its original June 2020 theatrical release. Among the improvements were the aviation sequences, and the storyline surrounding Jennifer Connelly’s character was smoothed out. Cruise’s Mission: Impossible sequel and Jack Reacher filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie boarded the production as a screenwriter a few weeks before shooting in summer 2018, and was key throughout production into editing. While some major studios sacrificed big tentpoles to streaming during cinemas closure, Top Gun: Maverick was also destined for the big screen (as exclaimed by producer Jerry Bruckheimer at CinemaCon last year); the film finally landed a Memorial Day launch. Paramount created global momentum, energizing the media and exhibition at a CinemaCon screening where the pic’s Oscar buzz promptly began, followed by a premiere in the pic’s shooting location of San Diego, in addition to a Cannes Film Festival launch where Cruise received an honorary Palme d’Or. While Sony/Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home ($814.1M U.S., $1.92 billion worldwide) gets credit for bringing people back to the cinema after Covid, Top Gun: Maverick is single-handedly responsible for welcoming older, non-frequent adult moviegoers back, and making them feel more comfortable in theaters, playing strong coast to coast. The movie broke a slew of records including Cruise’s best opening ever at the box office ($126.7M over three days, $248M WW) and his highest-grossing movie ever ($718.7M, $1.49 billion global). Top Gun: Maverick also notched the same B.O. records for Bruckheimer and Kosinski. For the longest time during 2022, on a global basis, Top Gun: Maverick was the year’s highest-grossing movie until Avatar: The Way of Water came along last December and unseated it. Still, Maverick remains the highest-grossing title last year stateside at $718.7M. The pic also scored the best domestic Memorial Day weekend opening ever ($160.5M over four days) for both the holiday and Bruckheimer.

THE BOX SCORE

THE BOTTOM LINE

The movie had a 21-day theatrical window before arriving on Paramount+ and Epix on December 22, with global revenues here worth $170M. Home entertainment at $250M is rich given that the movie held high digital price rates (between $20-$25) for a lengthy period, having landed on platforms on August 23. The pic in its first week became one of the top 20 best-selling digital releases in history after being available for only one week. The $280M in participations include for Kosinski, McQuarrie, Bruckheimer and certainly Cruise. Cruise landed what sources call an old-fashioned movie star deal, one of the best in history. While some tell us it’s well north of $100M, others tell us it’s double that of his best payday on Mission: Impossible, which would get him to $200M. Essentially, $12.5M against 10% of first-dollar gross with escalators that trigger when the movie hits certain box office benchmarks. The net profit of $391.1M is shared among Paramount, Skydance and New Republic.