Paramount Global’s blockbuster theatrical film “Top Gun: Maverick” will land on the company’s flagship streaming service Paramount Plus later this year, a company executive affirmed on Wednesday.
During a presentation at the BofA Securities 2022 Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference, Paramount Pictures Chief Executive Officer Brian Robbins said the film is already available to purchase through digital video platforms like Apple’s iTunes and Amazon Video, where it has become the company’s top-grossing home release of all time.
“In the first week [of the movie’s release], it’s already the biggest home entertainment video we’ve ever had,” Robbins said, noting that the movie is still screening in theaters across the country.
The film serves as a sequel to the 1986 action-comedy and sees Tom Cruise reprise his Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a pilot for the U.S. Navy (except, in the sequel, Mitchell is now a Captain). On Wednesday, entertainment trade publications reported the sequel surpassed Disney’s 2018 movie “Black Panther” to become the fifth highest-grossing theatrical film in North America of all time, raking in over $701.2 million in the domestic box office since its debut.
Robbins said the film’s success proved there’s still an appetite among consumers to experience a movie inside a theater, despite the wide availability of premium films on streaming services like Paramount Plus.
“They want to sit in a theater, they want to be moved, and they want to do it in a communal way,” Robbins said during the presentation on Wednesday. “I think theatrical is here to stay.”
But not everyone wants to pay more than $20 to sit and watch a movie in a room full of strangers. For those fans, Robbins affirmed “Top Gun: Maverick” will debut on Paramount Plus later this year, though a specific date was not announced. The film is expected to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray in early November.
Paramount Plus costs between $5 a month and $10 a month, depending on certain features. The cheaper version includes content from Paramount Global’s vast library of shows and movies, including “Paw Patrol,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Star Trek,” “Jackass,” “Survivor” and CBS News, with the price supplemented through brief ad interruptions. Viewers can ditch the ads and get access to a streaming feed of their local CBS station by paying $10 a month. Both tiers include live access to local National Football League games.
Last week, Paramount Global announced it would offer Showtime content within Paramount Plus for the first time. Paramount Plus with Showtime costs $8 a month or $80 a year with ads, or $13 a month or $130 a year without ads. Both versions include commercial-free access to Showtime’s shows and movies, as well as two linear feeds of the Showtime cable channel.
The prices announced by Paramount Global for the Paramount Plus-Showtime bundle are promotional discounts that are available until early October.
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Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to Brian Robbins as “Brian Roberts” in two places.
