“Top Gun” soars to a box-office record, proving the big screen’s back — for big franchises anyway

Tom Cruise to the rescue… 36 years after the original “Top Gun” premiered, “Mav” is back in the cockpit — and not a moment too soon for the movie biz. “Top Gun: Maverick” opened to $156M at the US box office, a new Memorial Day-weekend record. After being postponed several times because of the pandemic, “Top Gun” may signal a summer movie rebound:

• Takeoff: Shares of Paramount, which produced the film, rose more than 1% yesterday, and shares of theater giants AMC and IMAX also jumped (before flattening out later).
• Dad-nip: Most “Top Gun” watchers were older than 35 (and male), a shift from recent flicks like “The Batman” that were hotter with younger audiences.

It’s a big win for the big screen… The theater industry has come a long way since its 40-year sales low in 2020, but it will never again look like it did pre-pandemic. The reason: Hollywood studios have branched out their strategies beyond the theater.

• “Day-and-date” is dead: Studios like Warner Bros. and Comcast’s Universal have released movies simultaneously in theaters and to stream during the pandemic. But the strategy angered talent and flopped at the box office.
• The future’s mixed: Universal plans to release mass-market films in theaters (think: “Jurassic World”) and more niche flicks straight to streaming (think: a LeBron biopic that appeals to younger viewers).