{"id":1505090,"date":"2022-06-06T11:19:19","date_gmt":"2022-06-06T15:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1505090"},"modified":"2022-06-06T11:19:24","modified_gmt":"2022-06-06T15:19:24","slug":"just-say-no-to-woke-top-gun-maverick-crushing-box-office-with-pro-america-messaging-is-a-wake-up-call-for-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/just-say-no-to-woke-top-gun-maverick-crushing-box-office-with-pro-america-messaging-is-a-wake-up-call-for-hollywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Say No To Woke: \u2018Top Gun: Maverick\u2019 Crushing Box Office With Pro-America Messaging Is A Wake-Up Call For Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">40<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjust-say-no-to-woke-top-gun-maverick-crushing-box-office-with-pro-america-messaging-is-a-wake-up-call-for-hollywood%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1505090&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The original \u201cTop Gun\u201d wasn\u2019t an instant success when it was released in 1986.<\/p>\n<p>The action drama starring Tom Cruise as Maverick received mixed reviews and had decent but less than exceptional box office results. However, as the weeks and months passed, it became a cult classic and ultimately earned $357 million worldwide after being produced for just $15 million.<\/p>\n<p>It would be too easy to say \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d annihilated box office expectations during Memorial Day weekend in 2022 simply because of nostalgia. There seems to be more to it than that. Many reviewers are saying the sequel\u2019s success is because of the pro-America messaging that\u2019s been absent from most Hollywood blockbusters for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaverick\u201d is devoid of virtue signaling. There are no trans fighter pilots, Top Gun school drag performances, or monologues about white privilege. The film relies on quality storytelling and action scenes that are real rather than computer generated. Perhaps, in a way, the film is nostalgic for how entertainment used to actually entertain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist called the \u201cTop Gun\u201d sequel \u201cunabashedly patriotic\u201d and \u201cfree of token left-wing social and political propaganda.\u201d Reviewer Elle Reynolds <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/01\/top-gun-maverick-isnt-just-nostalgia-for-the-80s-its-nostalgia-for-american-greatness\/\">wrote<\/a>, \u201cThe only agenda being pushed is that America is the best country in the world and the men and women who risk their lives to defend her are heroes worthy of our respect.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The movie sailed to $156 million domestically over the four day opening weekend, in part because of the 80s nostalgia \u2013 from leather bomber jackets to characters like Val Kilmer\u2019s Ice Man, who fans remember from the original. Cruise, of course, plays Maverick, and though he\u2019s still a rebel, he\u2019s also matured into a man. This concept alone is worth celebrating in a culture that seems to promote eternal adolescence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A reviewer at Outkick expressed similar sentiments. They pointed out sequels that tried \u2013 and failed \u2013 to turn action flicks into cheesy girl-power advertisements, like the latest \u201cTerminator\u201d movie and the 2019 version of \u201cCharlie\u2019s Angels.\u201d Meanwhile, \u201cMaverick\u201d includes women to showcase their strength as being different but just as important as their masculine counterparts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe female pilot in the film, played by Monica Barbaro, is fearless but unwilling to lecture us about \u2018mansplaining\u2019 or \u2018gender\u2019 inequities,\u201d reviewer Christian Toto <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outkick.com\/top-gun-maverick-soars-on-pro-america-woke-free-message\/\">wrote<\/a> for the publication. \u201cRomantic co-star Jennifer Connelly brings out the best in Maverick without sacrificing her strength or femininity. \u2018Top Gun: Maverick\u2019 is about excellence, not quotas or equity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Even the most optimistic industry execs couldn\u2019t predict the massive success. IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond said that he was \u201cshocked\u201d at the record performance of \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d during an interview following opening weekend, Fox Business <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/media\/top-gun-maverick-box-office-imax-tom-cruise\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew it would sail past $200 [million], but I\u2019m just shocked that it\u2019s up around $300,\u201d Gelfond said. \u201cThis movie has a life of its own I think because it\u2019s a different demographic than a lot of movies that fly at these levels. I think people didn\u2019t know how to analyze it. I don\u2019t think anybody predicted $300.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t just older audience members that made \u201cMaverick\u201d such a hit, either. Even people who weren\u2019t around in 1986 to see the original film in theaters flocked to the cinema to see Cruise back in action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think one of the more shocking things is how many of the young people came, how many of the 18 to 30-year-olds came,\u201d Gelfond continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I think the analysts missed one big thing\u2026this was a 37-year gap, so a lot of the people weren\u2019t born when the last one came out\u2026.so people forgot it wasn\u2019t just a regular sequel. It was a sequel that spanned beyond the lifetime of a lot of these people. And that it was a great movie which I don\u2019t think anyone really understood how deep that went.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The exec also credits Cruise for being a true movie star as part of the appeal. It\u2019s worth noting that, while the 59-year-old actor has been subject to negative tabloid attention throughout his career, Cruise has remained apolitical in public. It\u2019s clear that he and \u201cMaverick\u201d are not pushing a political agenda.<\/p>\n<p>That 18 to 30 year demographic isn\u2019t used to being exposed to new movies that entertain without lecturing.<\/p>\n<p>Commentator Meghan McCain loved \u201cMaverick\u201d just like the rest of America. She penned a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-10876067\/MEGHAN-MCCAIN-Gun-Mavericks-wake-call-WOKE-Hollywood.html\">review<\/a> for Daily Mail that echoed what so many others were saying.<\/p>\n<p>She thought the \u201cTop Gun\u201d sequel honored the brave men and women who serve in the military, elevating them for their bravery. This is the type of pro-America messaging that audiences have been missing, and apparently, they\u2019re more than willing to seek it out and pay for it if it\u2019s offered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2026Above all else \u2014 the movie isn\u2019t overly political, it isn\u2019t depressing, it isn\u2019t focusing on the flaws of the United States of America and why we suck and why our flag and national anthem aren\u2019t worth honoring,\u201d McCain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The original \u201cTop Gun\u201d wasn\u2019t an instant success when it was released in 1986. The action drama starring Tom Cruise as Maverick received mixed reviews and had decent but less than exceptional box office results. However, as the weeks and months passed, it became a cult classic and ultimately earned $357 million worldwide after being &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":1505116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1505090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1505090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1505116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1505090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1505090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1505090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}