Paramount's Top Gun: Maverick has been the undisputed champion at the box office so far this year, accumulating over $1 billion worldwide throughout eight theatrical weekends. The Tom Cruise-led film stands as the highest-grossing film of the year, but Sony Pictures believes its Venom: Let There Be Carnage is attached to the success experienced by the Paramount sequel.

Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group co-presidents Sanford Panitch and Josh Greenstein believe the studio deserves credit for being one of the first to usher audiences back into theaters during the pandemic. Top Gun: Maverick was due to arrive in the summer of 2019 but experienced pushbacks due to the pandemic and its effect on movie theaters. Despite the delays and straight to streaming release from other major studios, Sony remained relatively firm in its theatrical release schedule.

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"When we first started releasing movies last October, there were really no other big movies," expressed Greenstein while speaking with Vulture. The studio released Venom: Let There Be Carnage in theaters in October of last year and saw the film earn an impressive $90 million by the end of its debut weekend. The following month Sony released its long-awaited film Ghostbusters: Afterlife and ended the year with the release of the record-breaking film Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Spider-Man No Way Home Box Office Billion

"Everyone had pushed their big movies to this year, to this summer. We took a big gamble putting 'Venom' in theaters. Then we doubled down with 'Ghostbusters,'" stated Greenstein. "Then our biggest bet was when every other tentpole had fled, we tripled down with 'Spider-Man' — our biggest, most important piece of IP." Spider-Man: No Way Home has earned over $1.9 billion globally and remains the highest-grossing film of the pandemic era with Top Gun: Maverick inching closer behind.

For many, the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home indicated that movie theaters still had a pulse after being upended by the pandemic, while Top Gun: Maverick signaled the return of the moviegoing experience. The film continues to perform well, but Sony believes its leap of faith has helped the film reach its current altitude. "In a weird way, I would say 'Top Gun' is benefiting from us taking our shot," stated Panitch. "'Venom' is the start of that story that allows 'Top Gun' to do the kind of business it did."

Top Gun: Maverick has benefited from several elements, but the biggest would have to be its extremely vast demographic that stretches across decades. The film is a sequel to the 1986 original Top Gun film and thus attracts audiences from an older and younger age bracket. Sony's imprint may linger on the Paramount film's success, but it's minimal compared to the other factors that have propelled the film above others released so far this year. It'll be interesting to see where things stand when the dust settles and if Top Gun: Maverick can withstand some of the bigger projects approaching on the horizon.

Top Gun: Maverick is currently playing in theaters.

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Source: Vulture