TV - Movies
Why Sony Execs
Think Venom Led
To Top Gun's Box
Office Success
By CAMERON ROY HALL
Some have joked that “Top Gun: Maverick’s” success is due to the current nostalgia for the 1980s. Others have suggested a more tangential option by which the film found success, and Sony thinks Tom Hardy walked so that Tom Cruise could run (which he does in pretty much every movie anyway).
Sony co-presidents Sanford Panitch and Josh Greenstein believe "Top Gun: Maverick" owes a portion of its success to "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," which reintroduced the idea of seeing movies in movie theaters. Panitch said, "There's so much press about 'Top Gun' right now. It's like, 'The movie business is back!' In a weird way, I would say 'Top Gun' is benefiting from us taking our shot."
Their thesis is that "Top Gun: Maverick" could only succeed because "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" first created a precedent for cinema returning to theaters. While removing context makes it sound like Sony's presidents are claiming victory in another studio's success, their full statement feels grounded in enough logic to substantiate their stance.