Top Gun: Maverick has blasted its way past Tom Cruise's other films to become the actor's highest-grossing film ever.
As one of the biggest names in Hollywood it's safe to say Cruise has starred in some popular films throughout his career, from Rain Man to Jerry Maguire, Jack Reacher to Mission: Impossible.
One of his most loved, though, is the 1986 film Top Gun, so when fans learned Cruise was returning to the role of Maverick many could barely contain their excitement.
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Fans flocked to the cinema to see Cruise back in control of a fighter jet following the release of the Top Gun sequel on 27 May, with many returning for a second or even third time once they realised just how good it was.
As a result, Top Gun: Maverick became Cruise's highest-grossing movie worldwide after just 21 days. It surpassed $800 million (£654m) at the global box office, consequently beating his previous record of $791.1m (£647m) for Mission: Impossible - Fallout, and succeeded in becoming the highest-grossing Cruise movie in 23 different worldwide markets.
The film made $422.2m (£345m) in the US box office alone plus $384.2m (£314m) internationally, and became Paramount Pictures’ second highest-grossing release domestic release after Titanic.
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Though impressive, the record is not entirely unsurprising after Maverick achieved the highest-grossing opening weekend of Cruise's career with an incredible $100m (£81m)
Top Gun: Maverick sees the fighter pilot return to the training school to prepare a group of younger pilots for, ironically, a mission which seems near impossible.
The actor admitted there was a lot of pressure on creating the sequel, which came more than 30 years after the release of the original film, as he told The Independent that taking on the project was a 'daunting task'.
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“Fans all over the world – more than any other film for decades have been saying please do another one, and I was like – I don’t know how to do that," he said.
Cruise went on to say he would 'go home and think about how to approach it', so he expressed his relief the film had been a resounding success upon its release.
He continued: "To hear about how audiences feel about it I’m telling you I just feel, I’m so excited for them, I’m so happy about it, I’m relieved for them you know.”
Top Gun: Maverick could continue its hot streak for a long time to come as the film is still yet to open in Korea, where Cruise has a large following.
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Topics: Tom Cruise, Film and TV, Celebrity, Entertainment
Emily Brown