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‘Elvis’ and ‘Top Gun’ tie for first place at the box office: ‘A rare occurrence’

A split image of a man with brown hair staring and another man with brown hair staring
Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick,” left, and Austin Butler in “Elvis.”
(Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros.)
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Paramount Pictures’ “Top Gun: Maverick” and Warner Bros.’ “Elvis” achieved a rare feat this weekend by tying for first place at the domestic box office — for now, at least.

In its opening weekend, “Elvis” amassed $30.5 million, while “Top Gun” collected the same amount in its fifth weekend for a North American cumulative of $521.7 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore that will be finalized on Monday.

“A box office tie is a rare occurrence and particularly when there is a battle for the top spot there is intense interest in the results given the importance of claiming a number one victory,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, in a statement.

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“For both films this is a big deal, a number one debut for Elvis is obviously a big win and for Maverick, jumping back into the top spot in weekend 5 is no small feat.”

Baz Luhrmann’s erotically charged biopic “Elvis” doesn’t just reinvigorate the Presley myth, it resurrects the King and makes him relevant again.

June 23, 2022

Directed by Baz Luhrmann, “Elvis” stars Austin Butler as the titular King of Rock ’n’ Roll and Tom Hanks as his manager, Col. Tom Parker. The highly anticipated biopic scored a solid 78% fresh rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, as well as an A-minus from audiences polled by CinemaScore.

Also new to theaters this weekend was Universal Pictures’ ”The Black Phone,” which landed in fourth place at the domestic box office with $23.4 million. Helmed by Scott Derrickson, the latest Blumhouse horror flick stars Ethan Hawke as a masked serial killer who abducts and murders children.

“The Black Phone” received a strong 84% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes but a less enthusiastic B+ from Cinemascore audiences.

Austin Butler poured everything he had into playing Elvis. The actor shares the grief, music and obsessive research that went into his portrayal.

June 24, 2022

“Top Gun: Maverick” surpassed $1 billion at the global box office this weekend after racking up a total of $484.7 million internationally. The patriotic action movie, directed by Joesph Kosinski, recently became the highest-grossing domestic release of Tom Cruise’s career.

Rounding out the top five domestically this weekend are Universal Pictures’ ”Jurassic World Dominion,” which added $26.4 million in its third weekend for a North American cumulative of $302.7 million, and Disney’s “Lightyear,” which made $17.7 million in its second weekend for a North American cumulative of $88.8 million.

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Opening in wide release next weekend are Bleecker Street Media’s “Mr. Malcolm’s List” and Universal Pictures’ “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”

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