Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament paused during the pandemic as theaters closed for most of 2020-2021 and newer theatrical titles became more widely available on big screens and each studio’s streaming platforms. Studios that have come back from that abyss are mostly returning to the theatrical release model and any downstream money they can make. When it comes to evaluating the financial performance of the best films, box office earnings aren’t the only thing that counts. To end the mysterious equation, Deadline replays the most valuable blockbuster tournaments of 2022 using data pulled from experienced and trusted sources.
film
Best Weapon: Maverick
Paramount/Skydance/New Republic
Profit: $391.1 million
For more than 30 years, Paramount has wanted to make a sequel to Tom Cruise’s masterpiece from 1986, and on better terms than any Mission: Impossible film, former Paramount Pictures president Jim Gianopoulos is the most profitable actor of his career. . Cruise went on location to Joseph Kosinski, a duo he worked with on the sci-fi film Oblivion, and directed the film using real actors aboard fighter jets. A mini flight school is introduced for the cast, a process that did not occur in the first film, with the actors playing pilots flying F18s alongside real pilots. David Ellison is a longtime Top Gun fan and co-funded 25% of the production budget. China’s Tencent was also expected to co-finance but fell, with New Republic taking over a further 25% of the $177 million net production cost (including reshoots). Paramount covers the remaining 50%. While theaters were closed, Cruise wanted to make sure the film was perfect, and reshoots were underway during the Covid umbrella. Initially, post-production of the picture was on track to complete its original theatrical release in June 2020. Among the improvements were a toned down flight sequence and story surrounding Jennifer Connelly’s character. Cruise’s Mission: Impossible sequel and Jack Reacher filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie joined production as a screenwriter weeks before filming in the summer of 2018 and was key from production to editing. Several major studios have sacrificed big tentpoles for streaming during theater shutdowns, but Top Gun: Maverick is aiming for the big screen (as producer Jerry Bruckheimer noted at last year’s CinemaCon). A film that finally opens on Memorial Day. Paramount generated global momentum at its CinemaCon screenings (which culminated in six nominations, including wins for Best Picture and Best Sound), where the Oscar movie buzz was about to kick off, Paramount praised the media and held its premiere in San Diego. The Cannes film, for which Cruise won an honorary Palme d’Or. While Sony/Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: No Way Home ($814.1 million USD, $1.92 billion worldwide) is credited with bringing people back to theaters post-Covid, Top Gun: Maverick stands alone. audience than adult moviegoers. Back, I felt more at home in the cinema, and it played strong from coast to coast. It is Cruise’s highest box office opening ($126.7 million over three days, $248 million worldwide) and the highest-grossing film of all time ($718.7 million, $1.49 billion worldwide). Top Gun: Maverick is the same B.O. Notes on Bruckheimer and Kosinski. For the longest run worldwide in 2022, Top Gun: Maverick was the highest-grossing film of the year until Avatar: The Way of Water was released and vacated last December. Nonetheless, Maverick remained the highest-grossing title in the US last year with $718.7 million. The figure also marked the nation’s best Memorial Day weekend opening for the holiday season and Bruckheimer’s ($160.5 million over four days).
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The film ran in massive theaters for 210 days before arriving on Paramount+ and Epix on December 22, where it grossed $170 million worldwide. Home entertainment, valued at $250 million, is especially rich considering the film had a high digital price tier (between $20-$25) long after it landed on platforms on August 23. Released in the first week of its release, the image became one of the top 20 highest-grossing digital releases in history in just one week. That includes the kettle$280 million involvement for Kosinski, McQuarrie, Bruckheimer and, of course, Cruise. Cruise is well known with sources calling him one of the best old fashioned movie star deals in history. Some say he makes over $100 million a year, while others say it’s double the highest salary he ever received on Mission: Impossible. It’s basically an escalator that starts when a $12.5 million film hits a certain box office benchmark, 10% of a $1 total. The net worth of $391.1 million is split between Paramount, Skydance, and New Republic.