If you've been anxiously waiting for a sequel to Top Gun since the first film's release in 1986, there's some very good news as it turns out the wait for Top Gun: Maverick just got shorter. Just a little shorter, but still, every minute counts. Originally set to be released on June 26, the film has been moved up by two days and will now debut on Wednesday June 24.
It's a little unusual, but not unheard of, for movies to debut in theaters on days other than Friday. When it does happen, it tends to be during the summer months when vacations and schools being out makes attending movies in the middle of the week a little easier. It's not clear exactly what the reason was to move Maverick up by a couple of days. Certainly, we can assume the studio did some calculations and thinks that the movie will still be able to bring in an audience during the week. Considering most of those looking forward to Top Gun: Maverick are going to be those that were fans of the original in the '80s, and thus are a bit older, the weekday release shouldn't be too much of a hindrance to attendance.
Previously Top Gun: Maverick shared its release date with In the Heights, and the two films weren't necessarily looking for the same audience, but now neither film will face serious competition on their release which is likely good news for both films.
A two day jump may not mean a lot to many people but for a movie sequel that many fans have been waiting decades to see, I'm sure they'll happily take those two days and show up on Wednesday. A sequel to Top Gun has been something that many fans have been asking for since the first film came out, and even approaching 40 years later, it was still something people wanted to see. Certainly that fan interest went a long way in keeping Top Gun relevant over the years, and making the sequel eventually happen. In fact, an official Wednesday opening will likely mean early screenings on Tuesday evening, making the movie that much closer to being real.
Of course, considering Top Gun: Maverick's first official release date was June of 2019, to a large extent fans probably feel like they've been waiting an extra long time.
Top Gun: Maverick will see Tom Cruise return to help train a group of young fighter pilots for an important mission. One of whom is the son of Maverick's deceased best friend Goose. The movie has teased us with a lot of practical stunt flying that the actors themselves were actually involved in. While certainly these sequences could have been recreated with green screens, that is, of course, never good enough for Tom Cruise.
