If you were hoping to spend your Fourth of July doing your patriotic duty watching Tom Cruise pull extreme Gs in actual fighter jets in Top Gun: Maverick, we have some bad news. But if all you had on your Christmas list was watching Tom Cruise pull extreme Gs in actual fighter jets in Top Gun: Maverick, then Santa is going to make you very happy this year.
Top Gun: Maverick is the latest film to succumb to the coronavirus pandemic, with Paramount moving the upcoming sequel’s scheduled release date from June 24 to December 23, a difference of six months. The film, which seemed tailormade for the summer blockbuster season, will now have to settle for a Christmas debut instead. However, that may not be such a bad thing. As Star Wars films have shown in recent years, there’s plenty of appetite for big-budget action films during the holiday season. And with no Star Wars and light competition overall this Christmas (Top Gun faces two animated kids movies on its new opening weekend), Maverick may end up flying circles around its box office competitors.
In the sequel to the 1986 film, Tom Cruise returns as Navy fighter pilot Pete Mitchell, who after three decades on the job is still “pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him.” Little else has been revealed about the actual plot of the film, but we know for certain that’s it’s going to be a thrill ride with aerial stunts unlike anything anyone’s ever seen before. In other words, the movie should make for a nice little Christmas gift.
