Paramount Pictures seemed to be fully committing to a future of films that would hit their Paramount+ streaming service and bypass cinematic releases. However, their recent success with Sonic The Hedgehog 2 and the unprecedented Top Gun: Maverick may have changed their minds about just how many of their movies will be given a theatrical release as a first option.

Top Gun: Maverick has bucked every trend possible with a theatrical run that saw it become the fifth highest grossing domestic release ever, as well as marking the biggest success for both Paramount Pictures and star Tom Cruise. With over $1.4 billion taken worldwide, the nostalgic, belated sequel to a moderate 80s hit is the type of movie that has gained more from being released in cinemas than anyone could have anticipated, and it actually the exact type of movie that would usually have landed as a streaming exclusive.

According to THR, recent theatrical success has proven that despite the issues faced during the Covid pandemic, cinemas are still very much able to bring in huge amounts of profit for the right movie, and that is something that Paramount will now be dipping further into. Paramount CEO Brian Robbins has revealed that Paramount’s future theatrical output will be increasing, intending to bring up to 15 movies a year to cinemas, and as he put it:

“Theatrical still has the greatest impact. That sort of theatrical release, 45 days later to streaming, that’s working beautifully.”

Related: Top Gun: Maverick Director Reflects on Showing Val Kilmer His Completed Scene For the First Time

Paramount is Yet to Reveal Whether There Will Be a Top Gun 3

Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick
Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures has several high-profile movies in production right now as it delves into some IPs with new sequels. Following the successful release of Sonic The Hedgehog 2, it did not take long for Paramount to announce that Sonic The Hedgehog 3 will be coming to cinemas in the not too distant future, along with a new spin-off series centering around Knuckles heading to Paramount+. There will also be A Quiet Place: Day One and A Quiet Place 3, and Scream 6 coming to cinemas soon, which has made many suspect that Top Gun 3 could join that list sometime soon.

Of course, a third Top Gun movie doesn’t just depend on the popularity and box office performance of Top Gun: Maverick, as without a story that once again resonates with fans, another sequel would likely just end up undoing the legacy that has been created for the franchise. Tom Cruise has already pretty much ruled himself out of further Top Gun projects, and without its leading man, the franchise's future would rest on the new characters that were introduced in Top Gun: Maverick.

It is clear that a large amount of Top Gun: Maverick’s success came down to both Tom Cruise and his character’s onscreen reunion with Val Kilmer’s Iceman, as well as having a storyline that was, to many, better than the original 1986 movie. That kind of lightning doesn’t usually strike twice, which would mean that any further Top Gun movies would have to be certain of where it was heading before potentially pushing the franchise's legacy beyond its limits.