Hollywood and the movie theater experience was on life support after covid. Theaters closed, movies were shuttered, canned or put onto streaming services and forgotten, and people were afraid to go back to the theater. Who could blame them? Not because of any misplaced apprehension over covid, rather Hollywood lost its way. No more big action stars, a total lack of creativity and the woke mind virus infected Hollywood leading to many movie theaters being permanently closed and production companies on the verge of bankruptcy. At Monday’s Academy Awards luncheon, famed director Steven Spielberg gave credit to one man for saving Hollywood. That man was Maverick. Rather, it was Tom Cruise. Check this out.
Hollywood director Steven Spielberg complimented Tom Cruise at Monday’s Academy Awards luncheon, telling him that his film “Top Gun: Maverick” may well have saved Hollywood.
“You saved Hollywood’s ass, and you might have saved theatrical distribution,” Spielberg told Cruise, “Seriously, ’Maverick’ might have saved the entire theatrical industry.”
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“Maverick” of course being Top Gun: Maverick, the blockbuster sequel that Cruise famously refused to release to streaming services despite it being ready for release in 2020. His gamble paid off, and moviegoers flocked back to the theater in droves to see the continuation and epic conclusion to the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun. Maverick, with it’s over the top action, non-woke storyline and Tom Cruise doing his own stunts including flying actual fighter jets helped set the table for the biggest year of movies since before covid. In other words, he saved Hollywood, without the help of the woke left.
“Top Gun: Maverick” has grossed $1.48 billion worldwide since its release in May 2022. Other films did well in 2022; “Jurassic World: Dominion,” which opened in June, has raked in over $1 billion worldwide; “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru” took in almost $1 billion since their releases in May and July, respectively. “Avatar: The Way Of Water,” which opened in December, outdid them all, earning over $2.2 billion worldwide.
Streaming is certainly more convenient and cheaper, but some movies beg to be seen on something bigger than our televisions. Problem was, no one was making compelling movies that required a giant screen. Cruise knew what he had, and his stubbornness saved an industry.
Cruise insisted that his film be released in theaters rather than on streaming services, which have burgeoned since the COVID pandemic.
“You saved Hollywood’s ass, and you might have saved theatrical distribution,” Spielberg told Cruise, “Seriously, ’Maverick’ might have saved the entire theatrical industry.”
“Top Gun: Maverick” is nominated for best picture, along with “All Quiet On The Western Front,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Banshees Of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans,” “Tar,” Triangle Of Sadness,” and “Women Talking.”
Maverick likely won’t win best picture, as the academy seems to always favor somewhat unknown, artsy pictures as opposed to the popcorn big-budget blockbuster, but that doesn’t diminish what Cruise did and the importance of a movie that everyone could go see without being hit over the head with woke themes and leftist virtue signaling. Hopefully Hollywood will remember where they just were, and how they came back.
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