One of the most anticipated movies for 2022 will be released this week with the sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” hitting theaters.
What Happened: At the start of 2022, IMDb ranked “Top Gun: Maverick” as the fourth most anticipated movie for the year based on search history on the movie platform, which is owned by Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
The movie from Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)(NASDAQ:PARAA) is a sequel to the 1986 title “Top Gun,” which also starred Tom Cruise.
“Top Gun” grossed more than $180 million domestically and $350 million worldwide. With a Memorial Day weekend release, “Top Gun: Maverick” could see a strong box office and be a big hit for the 2022 summer season.
Among the people most excited about the release of “Top Gun: Maverick” is Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC). Aron has called the movie a “masterpiece” and praised it several times on Twitter.
AMC is also doing an advanced screening of the movie at 200 theaters on Wednesday, May 25.
“In my view, among the best movies you will ever see,” Aron tweeted.
The movie has scores of 97% from critics and 99% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, which could help get people to go see the movie early in theaters.
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Here’s a look at what Benzinga users think of the movie.
Benzinga Poll: Benzinga recently polled its followers on Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) to see how demand was shaping up to see “Top Gun: Maverick” in theaters.
“AMC CEO Adam Aron called Top Gun: Maverick a ‘Masterpiece.’ Will you be heading to a movie theater to see the highly anticipated sequel?” Benzinga asked.
The potential answers were:
Yes, regular screen
Yes, IMAX screen
No, not watching
Of the responses, the most popular option was No, not watching with 41.3% of responses.
Those who answered yes were fairly split at 32.4% on a regular screen and 26.3% on an IMAX screen from Imax Corp (NYSE:IMAX).
The responses suggest that a decent amount of people will view the movie in theaters, which could be a positive for AMC and Imax as it continues the potential return of blockbuster movies to theaters.
The movie will be added to the streaming platform Paramount+ after its theatrical run, which has typically been 45 days for the media company. This would put the sequel on the streaming platform around mid-July.
PARA Price Action: Paramount shares closed up 1.73% to $32.35 on Wednesday.
Photo: Courtesy Paramount
