With the ridiculous number of delays announced last night and the previous announcements of other films hitting streaming and skipping theaters, it appears that the schedule of films hitting theaters in 2021 is about to go into a blender and come out looking very different. But through all this mess, it appears that Paramount is sticking to its, uh, guns for one of the studio’s films, “Top Gun: Maverick.”
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According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, it appears that streaming giants Netflix and Apple both approached Paramount about possibly buying the distribution rights for “Top Gun: Maverick.” However, the report claims that Paramount wasn’t interested and is willing to bet on Tom Cruise’s sequel at the box office…whenever it hits theaters.
As of now, ‘Maverick’ is set to arrive in theaters on July 2. Not only is the Fourth of July weekend a great time to release a fighter pilot action film, but “Top Gun: Maverick” stars one of the biggest names in the world (Cruise) and is the sequel to a beloved ‘80s film. There are a lot of positives for Paramount’s decision to keep the film on its date. But there is one big negative that might overrule them all— COVID-19.
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You see, the pandemic is still a major issue with a second wave of the virus sweeping through the world, as we speak. That has forced studios to basically vacate most of the release dates between now and May, with most analysts thinking that anything before July could be in jeopardy. That means you have ‘Maverick’ on the borderline between what might be feasible. But there’s no guarantee, of course. That means, Paramount could still be making the tough decision to delay the film again.
All that to say, selling ‘Maverick’ for a massive amount to a streaming service seems like the easy way out. And while the box office prospects for the ‘Top Gun’ sequel seem pretty dire at this moment, that might change in a few months. So, we’ll just have to see if Paramount’s confidence in Cruise and the franchise is worth the gamble.
