Prepare your final flight checks, because Top Gun: Maverick is returning to theaters this December. That’s right, the film that has already grossed over a billion dollars at the box office is returning to standard and IMAX theaters for the holiday season, for a limited two week engagement that will give viewers another opportunity to experience director Joseph Kosinski’s legacy sequel all over again — wonder if Santa can keep up with Mach 10?
The theatrical re-release, beginning on December 2 and running through December 15, will give IMAX viewers a chance to experience the film’s flight sequences like they’re in the cockpit with the Dagger Squad, with the immersive 1.90:1 expanded aspect ratio returning to screens. Shot on six IMAX-certified cameras and featuring technological innovations only possible in a Tom Cruise movie, these sequences fill the entire screen and give viewers the closest experience possible to experiencing real G’s — and real danger.
The theatrical re-release comes just before the film will finally find a streaming home on Paramount+, the hub for its production studio, Paramount Pictures, on December 23. Currently available for purchase digitally and in physical formats, including 4K Ultra HD, maybe the closest thing home viewers can get to IMAX, there’s no escaping the film’s utter domination, spurred on by a good old-fashioned blockbuster story of heart and determination.
“Top Gun: Maverick truly epitomizes the magic of the moviegoing experience, and we wanted to provide fans the opportunity to once again enjoy this cinematic spectacle as it was meant to be seen,” said Chris Aronson, President of Domestic Distribution for Paramount Pictures. “This feels like the perfect time to bring Top Gun: Maverick back to theaters so audiences everywhere can once again experience how special this film is.”
Maverick, which is officially the fifth highest grossing movie in domestic cinema history, took audiences by storm when it premiered on Memorial Day weekend, following up on the adventures of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell after the events of 1986’s Top Gun, when he is called back to the Fighter Weapons School to train a new group of pilots for a potentially deadly mission — including Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of his deceased former RIO, Goose. Its domination didn’t stop there, and the film is easily one of the best of the year, dominating the box office to become Paramount’s highest-grossing film ever, surpassing even the legendary heights of James Cameron’s Titanic, bringing back old faces (including Val Kilmer’s Tom “Iceman” Kazansky) and introducing new ones.
It’s also slotting itself nicely into this year’s awards season, nabbing Saturn Awards and Grammy nominations (for its soundtrack’s lead single, “Hold My Hand” by Lady Gaga), and there’s some speculation that it could make the big leagues and earn itself a few Academy Awards. Whether that will actually happen is anyone’s guess, but there’s no doubt that Maverick and the rest of the Dagger Squad are at least in the running.
Top Gun: Maverick, also starring Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, Greg Tarzan Davis, Danny Ramirez, Lewis Pullman, Jon Hamm, and Jennifer Connelly, will return to theaters beginning on December 2. Check out a trailer for the film below: