“The Best Shooter: Maverick” claims to be the box office crown of 2022 with a global collection of a billion dollars, but “Minions: The Rise of Gru” is not too far behind him and may even take his throne. As a sequel to the 1986 film “The Best Shooter”, Joseph Kosinski’s film “The Best Shooter: Maverick” marks the return of Lieutenant Tom Cruise Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. At the center of the plot is an urgent mission with high stakes, the film is filled with impressive acrobatic scenes, nostalgic references to the original and a heartbreaking arch of the redeeming story of the beloved Maverick. By allowing new characters and storylines to be the center of attention, Top Gun: Maverick remains true to the legacy of the original and paves the way for future additions to the film series.
So far, the audience reviews and box office receipts of “Minions: The Rise of Gru” have been no less impressive. After the low-quality work of Lightyear, “Minions: The Uprising of Gru” restored the existence of the theatrical market of animated films. While the film’s success is partly due to the trend of online memes called “Gentlemen,” its main appeal lies in its useless bite-sized yellow characters who tickle many ribs with their silly antics.
“The Best Shooter: Maverick” remains a box office giant and is only the second film after “Spider-Man: No Home” in 2019, which broke the $1 billion mark at the global box office. Although Minions: The Rise of Gru has not yet reached this milestone, its first figures show some promising prospects. The impressive techniques of both films raise some interesting questions: Will “Minions: The Rise of Gru” be able to maintain its growing popularity and eventually lead the box office in 2022? Or will it gradually lose momentum and lag behind Top Gun: Maverick at the box office?
Top Gun: Maverick’s box office crown looked untouchable… before the minions
“The Best Shooter: The success of Maverick” can be primarily attributed to the remarkable stardom of Tom Cruise. Moreover, early optimistic reviews of the film played a vital role in creating a stir around its release, which later prompted fans of the franchise and casual moviegoers to flock to cinemas. As with “Spider-Man: There’s No Way Home,” “The Best Shooter 2” also has a notalgic hook that makes it worth watching multiple times, which increases its growing number. Although “Minions: The Rise of Gru” lacks most of these elements, its timely release in the July 4th weekend window and family themes have given it an edge over most other summer blockbusters. Less than two weeks since the release of Minions: The Rise of Gru has earned over $400 million worldwide. However, it’s hard not to wonder if he has what it takes to overtake Top Gun: Maverick.
Will “Minions: The Rise of Gru” collect $ 1 billion at the box office?
The fame of “Minions: The Rise of Gru” can be traced back to the staggering box office receipts of the previous installments of the Despicable Me franchise. “Despicable Me,” the first installment, grossed $543 million worldwide, followed by “Despicable Me 2” ($970 million), “Minions” ($1.159 billion) and “Despicable Me 3” ($1.035 billion). Positive franchise trends suggest that Minions: The Rise of Gru may reach the $1 billion mark, but there is a caveat — the predecessors of Minions 2 had an advantage over the release before the pandemic. Not to mention the fact that after the release of the movie “Thor: Love and Thunder” the number of films dropped sharply. Because of this, the early predictions of “Minions 2” may compete with “Disney” and later bring him commendable dividends, but this may not be enough to rise above “Best Shooter 2”.
Will “Minions: The Rise of Gru” be able to surpass Top Gun: Maverick at the box office?
“Minions 2” exceeded all expectations and clearly became box office winners, especially among animated films. However, given how its box office is slowly losing numbers, the likelihood that it will break the post-tandem record of Top Gun: Maverick seems minimal. Despite some loss of steam, the Tom Cruise action movie is still gaining momentum and will collect even larger sums before “Minions 2” can get close to it. This is further confirmed by the fact that the drop in Top Gun: Maverick in the second weekend was only 32%, while Minions: The Rise of Gru has plummeted by 70% (according to Forbes). In general, the classic action movie with Tom Cruise, which has strong box office receipts, will reign supreme for a long time until its throne challenges an even larger franchise, such as “Black Panther 2” or “Avatar 2”.
