Top Gun: Maverick just proved that two-year delays aren't always for the worse.
Tom Cruise's nostalgia blast of a sequel was scheduled to come out in 2020 before multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, among other events, forced the film to come out on May 24. But, even if the audience had to wait two more years (on top of a 30ish-year wait), the moviegoers proved just how powerful nostalgia can be.
According to Paramount Pictures, Maverick's box office numbers are at over $124 million for the weekend and $151 million if you include the holiday, displacing 2007's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for the highest four-day Memorial Day debut. More importantly, this is Cruise's biggest opening ever. Previously, Cruise's biggest openings are 2005's War of the Worlds ($64.9 million) and 2018's Mission Impossible: Fallout ($61.2 million).
All things considered, Maverick has posted nearly $250 million worldwide, blowing past any and all expectations. This helps validate Paramount's decision to stick to a theater-exclusive release for the film despite numerous delays. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Maverick is the kind of film that's well worth watching.