Top Gun: Maverick flies past $1bn at the box office to become 2022’s highest grossing film

Tom Cruise thriller has overtaken ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

Top Gun: Maverick has become the highest grossing film of 2022 so far after surpassing $1bn at the global box office.

The action sequel is also now the most commercially successful film of star Tom Cruise’s career.

According to Variety, Maverick has made $1.006bn (£813m) since its release a month ago.

The year’s previous biggest film had been the Marvel sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which has now taken in a total of $947m (£772m).

Before Maverick, the biggest hit of Cruise’s career had been 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, which grossed a global total of $792m.

Maverick has enjoyed strong reviews following its release, with Cruise’s performance and the film’s aerial stunt work receiving particular praise.

In a four-star review for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey said: “Top Gun: Maverick really isn’t packed with the kind of craven nostalgia that we’re used to these days. It’s smarter, subtler, and wholly more humanistic.”

Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ (© 2019 Paramount Pictures Corporation. All rights reserved.)

Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly, Glen Powell, Ed Harris and Val Kilmer also feature in the film alongside Cruise.

Earlier this month, Kilmer shared a moving message to Cruise following his short appearance in the film.

Cruise has previously spoken about his reunion with Kilmer. Asked about the moment, he said: “It was lovely. The whole experience, you know, 36 years to make this film.”