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Top Gun: Maverick Could Change Paramount's Release Strategy
The success of Top Gun: Maverick has influenced Paramount Pictures to increase its theatrical release output, says President and CEO Brian Robbins. Paramount Pictures has seen massive success with theatrical releases in 2022. Its most lucrative film this year has been Top Gun: Maverick. A follow-up to the 1986 original Top Gun, the Tom Cruise-led sequel has seen global success, garnering over $1.4 billion at the box office at the time of writing. Top Gun: Maverick is currently the highest-grossing film of 2022 worldwide.
Paramount Pictures has also seen success with other theatrical ventures this year. Original films like The Lost City and sequels to established franchises such as Scream have been well-received by critics and commercially successful at the box office. Another major success for Paramount this year was Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which sits at just over $400 million in the global box office. In addition to garnering worldwide success, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 broke box office records, becoming the highest-grossing video game movie in the US.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Robbins plans to continue ensuring Paramount's financial success through a focus on theatrical releases. While speaking during the Bank of America Securities 2022 Media, Communications, & Entertainment Conference, Robbins cited the success of Top Gun: Maverick, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Scream, among other films, as proof that theaters remain strong for the studio. Bolstered by the numbers each film pulled in, Robbins revealed Paramount is now planning on upping its theatrical output, with the goal being to hit 12 to 15 releases each year. He put it simply when he said:
Theatrical still has the greatest impact. That sort of theatrical release, 45 days later to streaming, that’s working beautifully.
Though Paramount has its own streaming service backing up its products, it will not be abandoning theatrical debuts any time soon. That's rather fitting for the studio Cruise has been working with the most over the past few years; Cruise is one of the biggest supporters of the theatrical experience, and he's fought hard for both Top Gun: Maverick and the upcoming Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 to get proper theatrical runs. Paramount evidently agrees with him and is pinning a lot of hopes on its upcoming releases. These future movies are bound to include sequels to popular franchises, such as Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which is slated for release on December 20, 2024. While admitting these plans may be impacted by the availability of actors and other factors, Robbins is optimistic that interest in big theatrical releases will result in Paramount producing more successful feature films.
Given the global success of Top Gun: Maverick, it's no surprise that Paramount would want to focus on creating more theatrical releases that can mimic the sequel's level of financial and critical accomplishment, which has been a balm to a still-recovering box office. Other theatrical franchise releases already confirmed by Paramount include a sixth Scream film and A Quiet Place: Day One, a prequel to the original post-apocalyptic horror movie. It will prove interesting to see what else Paramount has plans to release in the coming years, especially given the diverse number of franchises they can pull from. How many future releases will match Top Gun Maverick's success remains to be seen, but they are bound to be influenced by its global achievements.
