“Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to Tom Cruise’s 1986 classic film, had generated NT$453 million (US$15.24 million) at the box office in Taiwan as of June 24, making it the American actor’s highest-grossing film in the domestic market.
The film, which hit local movie theaters on May 25, surpassed Cruise’s record grossing movie “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” in 2018, with NT$447 million, according to the film’s distributor on Saturday.
“Top Gun: Maverick” will also be shown on IMAX and 4DX formats this week, according to VieShow Cinemas, one of Taiwan’s largest movie outlets and also a movie distribution company.
According to IMDb’s Box Office Mojo, the 2022 action-drama film has so far grossed over US$918 million globally since its worldwide debut in late May.
Prior to its premiere, a trailer was released in 2019 which had a scene showing Cruise donning the bomber jacket his character, Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, wore in “Top Gun.”
In the 1986 original, the back of the jacket had a naval patch that displayed the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Japan flags, which were meant to commemorate the USS Galveston’s tour of duty with the 7th Fleet from 1963 to 1964 when it performed missions off Japan and Taiwan.
In the 2019 trailer, however, the ROC and Japan flags were replaced with other generic symbols.
According to foreign media reports at the time, the flags were allegedly removed by Hollywood to appease China’s censors, and also because Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings was initially set to back the US$170 million film.
However, the Wall Street Journal reported in late May that Tencent had pulled out over concerns that supporting a film celebrating the U.S. military could anger Beijing.
Both flags were subsequently restored in the film’s official release in Taiwanese theaters on May 25.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel