Amélie Chung
In the Modern blockbuster era that we currently live in, sequels are an extremely difficult task to pull off. I'm sure that you can think of some pretty shabby sequels for yourself, however, to name some we have Sex & the City 2, Scary Movie 5, MIB: International and Mean Girls 2. Currently, the only major blockbuster series' that remains successful and are still able to progress with their series include; the Marvel series – having released 29 films since 2008; the Batman series with 11 films since 1989; the Fast & Furious series with 9 films since 2001; and of course the James Bond Series with 25 films since 1962.
So the billion dollar question - yes billion - is, how on earth has the Top Gun sequel lead not only the blockbuster series industry, but the entire film industry on a wild GOOSE chase with this film? In fact, how has the film become the highest grossing film of 2022 so far with a global box office haul currently standing at US$1.35 billion, earned US$662.5million since its release, and now, sitting at number 13 for highest grossing film globally in history? (Box Office Mojo).
To really understand how truly obscene this is, remind yourself that the previous and only Top Gun film was released in 1986. That is, 35 years ago. Whereas the successful blockbuster series mentioned above have frequently released a new sequel every few years, thereby keeping their audience engaged and awaiting the release of a new film, pitching to a newer and younger generations of audiences. While Top Gun is indeed a classic, the lack of previously produced sequels essentially limits their audience group to Gen X and Millennials, and perhaps some of the children of those devoted fans.
Let's have a look as to how the film has soared above, and turned n' burned other sequels.
PARAMOUNT'S PREP FOR TAKEOFF:
Back in 2019 when the stage at San Diego Comic-Con first revealed the Top Gun: Maverick trailer, the apprehension and positive feedback exceeded all expectations, and the anticipation for the film's intended release in June 2020 was sky-high. Thanks to COVID, the film was only released in May of 2022. So, the movie's marketing team felt the need – the need for speed and ways to best advertise this film.
In an interview with ADWEEK, president of worldwide marketing and distribution for Paramount Pictures Marc Weinstock said that "we just aimed to be everywhere we could." True to this, Tom Cruise filmed a pre-game feature for the NFL's AFC Championship on CBS; featured in Lady Gaga's video for Hold My Hand (which became part of the film's soundtrack) debuted on MTV, MTV Live, MTVU and Paramount's Times Square billboards; Pluto TV aired Tom Cruise promotions; Jeff Probst completed a voice-over for the film in Survivor's season finale; Cruise was featured on a Paramount+ carousel exhibiting the actor's films; and James Corden invited Cruise onto the Late Late Show to participate in a sketch where Cruise took Corden up into a fighter jet – which as suspected, went viral with 25 million views on YouTube days before the film's release.
GETTING GEN Z ON-BOARD:
Now why so much effort for a film with so much anticipation?
As previously pointed out, the newer generation of people, that is Gen Z, have likely had little to no interaction with the first Top Gun film, hence according to Weinstock, "... it was really a concerted effort to make sure that people who did not grow up with a movie to want to go see it. There's a considerable effort to go after under-35 audience, and a lot of our tactics went that way."
So not only did the marketing team create the viral campaigns, they also embraced a pervasive digital strategy by inviting the top social media influencers (with a collective following of 140 million social media users between them), to a red carpet world premiere of the film, which was livestreamed on 120 YouTube channels globally. This was seen as a critical strategy to promote the film to Gen Z.
Adding onto the film's digital presence on social media were the unexpected trending and viral clips of both the film and promos on TikTok. Now if you're thinking of the viral Miles Teller or "Rooster" TikTok trend with 4.5billion views...I like your side of TikTok. However more importantly, this trend bolstered the popularity of the sequel and according to Glamour magazine, Teller has now "emerged as the movie's major sex symbol." Additionally, clips from Cruise' Late Late Show appearance of Cruise telling Corden that he would "dump" him out of the plane if an engine were to be lost received over 12.5million views on TikTok.
CRUISIN' TO THE TOP:
According to Vanity Fair, this sequel could very well finally deliver Tom Cruise an Oscar! Can we thank pop culture for the the triumph of Top Gun: Maverick entirely? No. It was a combination of the devotion of fans from the original film, the relentless campaigning, collaborations with other Hollywood superstars, the digital strategy, trends emerging on TikTok from a new generation of adrenalin junkies and of course, just because the movie is simply brilliant, full of catchy tunes - enough to take your breath away.
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