Top Gun: MaverickproducerJerry Bruckheimerhas been in the business for over four decades and worked on numerous blockbusters like thePirates of the Caribbeanseries,Beverly Hills Cop, andNational Treasure.Yet, it was a legacy sequel 36 years in the making that turned out to be his best-performing film ever.Top Gun: Maverickdebuted in May and is still refusing to budge from the box office charts, having grossed almost $1.4 billion worldwide.
Top Gun: Maverickis alsoTom Cruise’s highest-grossing filmand is currently the biggest film of 2022, miles ahead of its competition:Doctor Strange 2, Jurassic World Dominion, andThor: Love and Thunder. Bruckheimer recently talked toEWabout the possible reasons behindTop Gun: Maverick’scolossal success and why he thinks Tom Cruise shoulders much of the responsibility.
“It’s always the characters, the themes, the story. That’s what it’s all about; it’s about the emotion, it’s about bringing Iceman back, it’s about seeing a real movie. You’re in the F-18 just like those actors are. They were trained for three months to be able to get into an F-18… you’re able to see the struggles of what they’re doing, what they’re going through. That’s all real, that’s not made-up.”
The jaw-dropping aerial sequences are definitely the highlight ofTop Gun: Maverick,but the film isn’t light on emotions either.Fans appreciated the thoughtful Val Kilmer cameoand the wayTop Gun: Maverickhandled his health issues. Bruckheimer also touched on the CGI-free action and how it is a breath of fresh air for the audience to experience something so immersive in the age of VFX-heavy blockbusters.
“I think audiences have been seeing so much CGI, which is wonderful, I go see the same movies, but it’s also nice to see the real deal, and to be part of a camaraderie of characters that get up in the sky and have to be as good as they can be.”
“The audiences love the Marvel, they love the DC stuff. They’re beautifully made by really talented people. Sometimes you want to see something that’s real, and that’s what Top Gun gave us… These aviators are out there protecting our country right now, flying around the world, and you’re taking a ride with them. You’re seeing what they do, you’re seeing what their life is like, and the trials and tribulations that they have to go through. You’re actually experiencing it with our actors.”
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Tom Cruise Worked Harder Than Anybody Else On Top Gun: Maverick
Not to take away any credit from the cast and the crew, but Tom Cruise single-handedly carriedTop Gun: Maverickto its chart-topping success. Whether it’s turning up at various film festivals to promote it or performing most of the stunts on his own, Cruise was a major player inTop Gun: Maverick’smaking.
Cruise, who is a registered pilot and has years of experience flying planes, put theTop Gun: Maverickcast through a grueling boot campto bring them up to his level. It was necessary since they were going to experience immense gravitational pull once in the planes. Bruckheimer revealed that Cruise also crafted some of the stunning aerial sequences.
“Top Gun was the benefit of all of Tom’s learning and being with all these terrific actors, directors, and writers. He helped us craft this movie. He designed the aerial sequences with [director] Joe Kosinski, [co-writer Christopher McQuarrie], and the rest of our writers worked so hard to get this movie to become the success it has become. All that energy that Tom puts into it… Nobody works harder.”
In the end, all the hard work paid off, andTop Gun: Maverickwill go down in history as one of the greatest action movies of all time.Top Gun: Maverickis currently playing in theaters but will arrive on digital on August 23, with almost two hours of bonus content.
