Top Gun: Maverick Box Office and Tom Cruise Oscar Odds

With "Top Gun: Maverick" realizing impressive numbers at the box office this past week, there is a renewed belief that lead actor Tom Cruise might make his return to the Oscars in 2023 following a 23-year absence.

Those odds are long, according to Gambling911.com (early pre-betting available futures), which has Tom Cruise nominated for Best Actor with "Top Gun: Maverick" set at 10-1 (BetOnline had not yet released these odds).

The rationale is that films released this early in the season tend to be ignored by the Academy, as do action movies.  The Oscars haven't exactly strayed in recent years from nominating films most of us have not seen, let alone heard of.

Last weekend's release of "Top Gun: Maverick" became the biggest blockbuster in Cruise's 40-year career.  That's saying a lot.  He's starred in some biggies.  The release also set a new Memorial Day weekend record of $160 million.  Yes folks, seeing movies in actual theatres won't be disappearing any time soon despite what you may have read about streaming services replacing the big screen experience.

Cruise has also received excellent reviews for his performance.  He almost passed up the opportunity.

"At the time I came into it, Tom Cruise didn’t want to do the movie, which I found out later," reveals "Top Gun: Maverick" director, Director Joseph Kosinski. "This all started almost exactly five years ago. Jerry Bruckheimer sent me an early draft they were working on and wanted my thoughts. I pitched him my take. He liked it and said, ‘You’ve got to pitch this to Tom directly.’ Jerry and I flew to Paris, where Tom was shooting Mission, and we got about a half-hour out of his time. What I didn’t realize was Tom did not want to make another Top Gun. I got a hint of it when Tom called me after I landed. He said, ‘Joe, thank you for coming out. No matter what happens, it’ll be great to see you regardless.’ And I was like, Oh, wait, he doesn’t want to do this."

IMBD predicted the sequel, 38 years after the original came out, "will probably do good, but not great. A lot of Top Gun fans will check it out, but I don't think it will be a huge franchise starter."

They projected the film would crack $415,000,000 worldwide box office receipts.  It had already exceeded $500,000,000 by its second weekend.

Upcoming Film Releases Box Office Over/Under Totals Odds

Jurassic World Dominion (June 10)

Opening Weekend: $175,000,000

Worldwide: $1,400,000,000

Minions: The Rise of Gru (July 1)

Opening Weekend: $70,000,000

Worldwide: $815,000,000

Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8)

Opening Weekend: $130,000,000

Worldwide: $890,000,000

Find Entertainment Betting Odds at BetOnline Here

- Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com