Top Gun Hype Blossoms, But Will It Be Worth It?

The Summer Box Office hype has been tremendous, and has mostly paid off to date, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness even pulling off record-breaking numbers. This week we see the long-awaited Top Gun: Maverick finally release, a tender two years after its intended release date. A key question, of course, is if it will have the traction among the younger viewers that comprise the bulk of cinema-goers at the moment, or if the franchise is a classic case of too little, too late. Entertainment attorney with Blake & Wang P.A, Brandon Blake, takes a look at the wider lessons to be learned from its release. 

                                                              Brandon Blake

Cinema Demographics

At this point, we all know that the 18-35 year old demographic has been the most invested in a return to movie theaters post-COVID. While Top Gun:Maverick has a ton of publicity and franchise appeal to offer, it’s still a nearly 60-year old actor reviving an IP that’s 36 years old now. On paper, it’s a bad match up to the people most likely to turn out for a theatrical opening.

 

It will doubtless also finally answer the key post-pandemic era question of whether that demographic can be broadened to bring all ages back to cinemas. Currently, a lot of the argument hinges on whether we’re seeing a ‘true’ cinematic revival, or if the Box Office only maintains its appeal for glittering tentpoles and big-budget movies that play to a mostly-male, mostly-young audience. 

The Need for Entertainment

Many in the industry feel that there’s still a space for ‘normal’ films at the theater, but only if the theater experience itself repositions to be more of a drawcard. It’s essential to bring some of that special sparkle inherent in a tentpole release to the wider theater-going experience. After all, sitting on a couch at home flicking listlessly through choices isn’t really an ‘entertainment experience’, no matter how good the films watched may be. This push to reinvent theater venues as true entertainment spaces, something that can draw people of all ages into a ‘night out’, is being felt keenly through the industry.

 

Will it manifest, however? Top Gun will be as good a test-case as any, with a product offering that’s packed with glittery special effects and silver-screen worthy drama, but lacking the in-built demographic pull that the Marvel tentpoles have. If we see strong traction across generations for it, the talk of how resilient cinema has proven to be could well become fact, not mere hope. We are all for it.