Top Gun: Maverick has exceeded all box-office expectations by beating Titanic to become the highest-grossing domestic movie for Paramount Pictures, demonstrating the strength of the action movie genre.
The sequel to the 1986 movie Top Gun has grossed $601.91 million in the US, beating the $600.78 million made by Titanic following its release in 1997. The Top Gun sequel had a budget of $170 million and fans have flocked to see Tom Cruise reprise his role as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.
The wide reach of the action genre
The action genre is highly sought after across the entertainment industry with stealth video games such as The Hitman and Grand Theft Auto franchises. With the genre proving so popular, it is no surprise to see action-themed slots in the iGaming sector. Players can access online gambling Canada full of action slots such as Agent Valkyrie, Double O Dollars and Codename: Jackpot. These particular titles have taken action movies such as the James Bond franchise as inspiration and are able to capitalize on the popularity of the genre.
Netflix betting big on action movies
Now Netflix is getting involved with its own big-budget action movie. The Gray Man, starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans and directed by the Russo brothers, cost $200 million and began with a limited theatrical release. The movie, based on the novel of the same name by Mark Greaney, represents a gamble for Netflix as the company looks to stem the tide of subscribers leaving the streaming platform. The ultimate aim is to create a movie franchise by bringing Greaney’s Gray Man novels to the big screen.
But the gamble is reduced somewhat by virtue of having Anthony and Joe Russo as directors. Netflix has backed the brothers financially and by giving them the sort of artistic license not available to directors at traditional movie studios. The movie was originally slated to be made at Sony, which Joe Russo admits would have led to a very different film due to the substantially lower budget on offer.
With a series of action movies planned, Scott Stuber, Netflix’s head of global film, highlighted the new direction taken by Netflix with The Gray Man and the importance of securing top directors with a proven track record in the genre: “We haven’t really been in this genre yet. If you’re going to do it, you want to deal with filmmakers who over the last decade have created some of the biggest franchises and the biggest action movies in our business.”
The box office record-busting exploits of Top Gun: Maverick and the vote of confidence placed by Netflix in the Russo brothers for The Gray Man demonstrate the huge popularity of the action movie genre and are likely to lead to an increase in films aiming to replicate this success. While Netflix is taking a gamble on action movies, there is every chance the investment will pay off.
