Streaming was already well on its way to becoming the primary source with which people consume their new movies, and then the pandemic happened, and it has since become the only way in which they can.
We all know about Warner Bros.’ game-changing decision with their 2021 slate, Disney have dipped their toes in the water with their premium release of Mulan, and some studios have auctioned off their assets to the highest bidder. Such a feeding frenzy has reportedly prompted a couple of the larger streamers to feel the need for speed and attempt an audacious bid to buy Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, both Netflix and Apple approached Paramount Pictures to buy Top Gun: Maverick, but the studio ‘refused to consider offers’ because of the box-office potential when cinemas are allowed to safely reopen. The article stated:
‘Netflix and Apple both inquired if Paramount Pictures would be willing to sell the highly anticipated sequel “Top Gun: Maverick,” starring Tom Cruise, which had been due to open in theaters last summer. Based on the strength of the film’s perceived box-office prospects, the studio refused to consider offers, according to people familiar with the matter. So far, “Top Gun: Maverick” is set to debut in theaters this July.’
Paramount Pictures have previously done deals with Netflix for the likes of Annihilation and The Cloverfield Paradox, but that was largely because they weren’t confident those films would do the business they wanted at the box-office. It appears that there’s a lot more faith people will turn out for the Tom Cruise blockbuster when it finally lands in cinemas.
SEE ALSO: Tom Cruise’s Maverick will have to confront his past in Top Gun 2
Are you glad Paramount are standing their ground so that you can see Top Gun: Maverick on the largest screen possible, or wouldn’t it matter what sized screen or streaming service you watched it on? Don’t forget to let us know using our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose”.
Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.
Top Gun: Maverick is set for release on December 23rd, 2020 and sees returning stars Tom Cruise (Maverick) and Val Kilmer (Iceman) joined in the cast by Jennifer Connolly (American Pastoral), Jon Hamm (Mad Men), Ed Harris (Westworld), Lewis Pullman (Bad Times at the El Royale), Glen Powell (Hidden Figures), Charles Parnell (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Bashir Salahuddin (Glow), Monica Barbaro (The Good Cop), Danny Ramirez (The Gifted), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Jay Ellis (Insecure), Kara Wang (Good Trouble), Jack Schumacher (Empire), Greg Tarzan Davis (Chicago P.D.), Jake Picking (Blockers), Raymond Lee (Mozart in the Jungle), Jean Louisa Kelly (Ant-Man) and Lyliana Wray (Strange Angel).