Next week, Hollywood will take an estimated $300m gamble on Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to a film released 36 years ago.
Top Gun: Maverick is following a well-established track for sequels to what Robert Mitchell, director of theatrical insights for box office analysts Gower Street Analytics, calls “legacy” films.
People are psyched for this visceral element to Top Gun: Maverick, and sells it to people who may not be old enough to have seen Top Gun, but know him from the Mission films.”
So Top Gun: Maverick has got a whole cast of young actors, amazing aerial footage, in-camera stunts, which are there to excite everybody – as well as Tom Cruise returning to his star-making role.