Photos by Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures, except as noted
When Top Gun opened on May 16, 1986,
the fi lm became an instant global hit.
Made for just $15 million, it grossed
more than $357 million worldwide, made
Tom Cruise a star, won an Oscar for Best
Original Song with Berlin's "Take My
Breath Away" and increased enlistment
THE NEED FOR SPEED—THE LOCATIONS OF
TOPGUN:MAVERICK
by Shaun O'Banion
Tom Cruise is back with his megawatt smile in TOPGUN:MAVERICK—
doing what he does best: ying fast and pulling Gs.
SLM Mike Fantasia/LMGI also pushes the envelope to help make it
in the Navy by a storied 500%.
With that kind of success, you'd think
that everyone involved would have tried
to make a sequel right away—but it would
be 36 years before audiences would once
again get to climb back into the cockpit
with Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.
