After lengthy delays due to Covid, the long-awaited action movie sequel Top Gun: Maverick opens this weekend in the US for the four-day Memorial Day weekend, and it's expected to put up huge numbers.

　　The movie is expected to make $180 million worldwide this weekend, which would be the biggest opening weekend for Tom Cruise in his long career, according to Deadline. The film is projected to bring in as much as $100 million in the US specifically, which would also be a record for biggest opening weekend for a Cruise movie.

　　Cruise's biggest movie ever in the US for its opening weekend was 2005's War of the Worlds, which made $64.8 million over its three-day opening weekend. Worldwide, Cruise's current best is The Mummy, which made $172.3 million for its opening weekend. These are for traditional three-day weekends, however, but projections for Maverick cover four days due to the Memorial Day holiday in the US.

　　Maverick is currently booked at 4,727 theaters in the US and Canada, which is more than The Lion King (4,725 theaters), Spider-Man: No Way Home (4,336 theaters), and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (4,534 theaters).

　　36 years after the original Top Gun, Maverick opens in theaters Friday, May 27. GameSpot's Top Gun: Maverick review scored the film a 9/10. "

　　"This isn't the same Maverick we knew from 1986, and the crew he's surrounded by is helping him to evolve even further. Meanwhile, Rooster and the new class of Top Gun pilots more than hold their own as characters worthy of this franchise," reviewer Chris Hayner said. "Pair that with even bigger stakes than the original film and more adrenaline-packed flight scenes, and what you have is a masterclass on how to make a sequel to a movie everyone loved. It may have taken a long time to get here, but Top Gun: Maverick is a worthy revival of the franchise."

　　Maverick is directed by Joseph Kosinski and also stars Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, and Jon Hamm.