How 'Top Gun: Maverick' Brought Back Val Kilmer After Throat Cancer Battle

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorAfter “Top Gun: Maverick” shattered box-office records over Memorial Day weekend, the original “Top Gun” soared to the top of the U.S. streaming charts this week.Paramount Pictures’ 1986 “Top Gun,” starring a 23-year-old Tom Cruise as hotshot Navy pilot Maverick, was the most popular streaming title for the week of May 26-June 1, according to consumer data released by Reelgood.The original “Top Gun,” which also stars Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer and Anthony Edwards, is streaming on Paramount+.

Jennifer Connelly may star in “Top Gun: Maverick”, but she’s only just got over her fear of flying not so long ago.

Entertainment Weekly reported. Director Joseph Kosinki — who helmed the blockbuster, record-setting sequel — said the choice to go with the original version was to assure the audience that they were in good hands. “I wanted that first few minutes to just tell you, this is a ‘Top Gun’ movie, we love it as much you do,” Kosinki, 48, said in a previous interview.

raked in a record-breaking $156 million its opening weekend. Now 59, Cruise hardly looks like he’s scraping his sixth decade. He’s still performing his own stunts, showing off his impossibly ripped torso on-screen and flashing his trademark smile that seduced audiences early in his career.

“Top Gun: Maverick” (and judging by the oversized Memorial Day weekend box office haul, you have), then you undoubtedly fell in love with Bob.Played by Lewis Pullman, from future cult classic “Bad Times at the El Royale” and Prime Video’s terrific series “Outer Range,” Bob is a weapon systems officer and recent graduate of the elite Top Gun Naval pilot training program. He’s quiet and unassuming with boxy 1970s glasses; a “dork” if you will.

Zack Sharf SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you have watched “Top Gun: Maverick,” in theaters now. “Top Gun” fans knew ahead of time that Val Kilmer would be reprising his role of Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in the sequel, but the specifics of the actor’s return were a question mark considering Kilmer lost the ability to speak after undergoing throat cancer treatment in 2014.

Disney+ series Willow, according to reports.Following the Star Wars Celebration panel last Thursday (May 26), reports circulated that the actor would reprise his role from the 1988 fantasy film in the upcoming series. According to Entertainment Weekly however, the reports were inaccurate and Kilmer will not be starring in the show.The actor, who recently featured in Top Gun: Maverick in a small role, has struggled with his speech following a two-year battle with throat cancer.Kilmer’s character Madmartigan will be featured in the series in some capacity.

Cruise reprise his role as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell alongside Jennifer Connelly and Jon Hamm, as he coaches a cohort of young fighter pilots before they carry out a dangerous mission. Arriving almost 40 years after Tony Scott’s 1986 smash hit original, Top Gun: Maverick is obviously loaded with nostalgia and direct references to the previous film. One such reference is the brief but crucial appearance of Val Kilmer’s Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, Mav’s rival turned wingman from the original movie.

Tom Cruise is breaking a new record! The Hollywood star is enjoying the success of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ following the premiere of the film, with an estimated $156 million dollars domestically during the four-day opening weekend.The sequel to the 1986 fan-favorite blockbuster has surpassed all expectations, as the forecast for the opening weekend was approximately $130 million. Now the actor has achieved his biggest debut at the box office and his first surpassing $100 million.‘Top Gun: Maverick’ broke the record for biggest opening over Memorial Day weekend, taking the place of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ in 2007, making $153 million at the time for the third installment of the franchise.Directed by Joseph Kosinski, fans of the original ‘Top Gun’ shared their excitement to see the return of Tom Cruise, reprising his iconic character, Navy pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell 36 years after the first film.The new storyline follows a new generation of elite fighter pilots, mentored by Maverick, who will be in charge of their training.Celebrities also showed their excitement for the premiere of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ including Prince William and Kate Middleton, attending the U.K.

“Top Gun: Maverick.”Revealing Cruise “really didn’t want to” make a sequel to the hit 1986 blockbuster, Kosinski met with the actor in Paris where he had just half an hour to pitch the project.“So I read the script, I had some ideas, and Jerry [Bruckheimer] liked those ideas. He said, ‘You know what, you gotta go pitch this to Tom directly,'” Kosinski told Polygon.“We flew to Paris, where Tom was shooting Mission: Impossible, we got about a half-hour of his time between setups.”“And I basically had 30 minutes to pitch this film, which I didn’t realize when we were flying over.

Top Gun: Maverick has brought in a huge box office haul on its opening weekend.The sequel to 1986’s Top Gun, which sees Tom Cruise return as Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, has already taken $248million (£196million) worldwide since its release on Friday (May 27).Of those takings, $151million (£119million) were in the US, with the film screening at a record-breaking 4,732 cinemas, the most for any film on its first weekend.This makes Maverick the highest-grossing opening for a non-superhero film since the COVID-19 pandemic began, as well as the first Cruise film to go over the $100million (£79million) mark on opening weekend.It sits behind last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($206million/£162million), Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness ($148million/£116million) and The Batman ($106million/£83million).While Cruise returns for the blockbuster, original stars Kelly McGillis (Charlie Blackwood) and Meg Ryan (Carole Bradshaw) are both absent from the film.Explaining the decision not to include the characters, director Joseph Kosinski told Insider: “Those weren’t stories that we were throwing around.“I didn’t want every storyline to always be looking backwards.

Val Kilmer reprises his role as Iceman in the new movie Top Gun: Maverick and his voice in the film was created using A.I. technology.

estimated $124 million in ticket sales, Paramount Pictures said Sunday. Including international showings, its worldwide total is $248 million.It’s a supersonic start for a film that still has the wide-open skies of Memorial Day itself to rake in even more cash. According to projections and estimates, by Monday’s close, “Top Gun: Maverick” will likely have over $150 million.“These results are ridiculously, over-the-top fantastic,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution.

Frail John Wayne wore wet suit under his tuxedo at last public appearanceLinkChristopher Lee did not want to play Lord of The Rings Saruman 'Awkward class with director Peter Jackson'LinkKilmer had collapsed during the night, vomiting blood, and an ambulance was called. Cher said: "Once when the paramedics showed up after he was so sick and coughing up blood, he looked at me and I looked at him and we both knew what we were thinking. .

TOP Gun actress Giulia Lupetti hits the heights after another take-off. The 33-year-old Italian, who is also a model and screenwriter, showed off her fab physique in lacy undies.

"Top Gun" star Tom Skerritt is sharing his thoughts on the movie's sequel and reflecting on the original 1986 film.  Skerritt, who starred as Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf in the original, opened up about what made "Top Gun" iconic during a recent interview with Fox News Digital. "The music had a lot to do with it by the way," he said. "But the screenplay itself, which I've always honored as being the whole reason for a good show, and you just write the work … and do the job you have good material for the rest of us to work with.

came out with guns blazing at the domestic box office on Friday.The sequel, starring Tom Cruise reprising his 1986 role as Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell alongside Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly and Jon Hamm, raked in $51,800,000, according to the IMDB’s Box Office Mojo database.  “The Bob’s Burgers Movie,” which was released on Friday, trailed in second place, earning $5,700,000.

Superheroes aren’t the only ones making an impact at the box office. According to Deadline, "Top Gun: Maverick" is ranking $150 million over four days – the best opening for the film’s lead Tom Cruise. Comscore shared that over Memorial Day weekend, the "Top Gun" sequel now takes the place of the highest grossing movie over the holiday weekend.

Industry estimates currently project a $142.5 million 4-day opening weekend from 4,735 theaters for “Top Gun: Maverick,” while Paramount is estimating $150 million. If it can push past $153 million, “Maverick” will break a Memorial Day opening record that has been held for 15 years by Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.” Paramount is also projecting a 3-day opening of $123 million, which would pass Marvel’s “Iron Man 2” as Paramount’s biggest opening weekend of all time.

Val Kilmer is set to have a big part in the upcoming Willow series on Disney+.

Feeling the need for speed! Ever since its debut almost four decades prior, Top Gun has been considered an American classic — and it’s finally getting a sequel.

Jon Hamm is opening up about the Navy training that he missed out on for his new movie, Top Gun: Maverick.

Glen Powell nearly didn't make the cut for "Top Gun: Maverick." Powell, 33, shared with The Hollywood Reporter that, in July 2018, he got a phone call informing him he didn’t get the role in the film for which he had spent weeks auditioning.  "This one I just took very personally and was just plain sad," he told the outlet. Powell, best known for his role in "Scream Queens," originally auditioned for the role of Rooster, the on-screen son of Goose who was Lt.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorAudiences coming out of “Top Gun: Maverick” this weekend want to know one thing, are the actors really flying those fighter jets? The answer in short is, yes.Tom Cruise, who returns as “Maverick,” is renowned for doing his own stunt work, and he wanted his stars Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro and Glen Powell to learn how to fly. That’s where the film’s aerial coordinator, Kevin LaRosa Jr., stepped in.LaRosa Jr. worked with Cruise to put together an intense flight program that began with the cast flying in a smaller aircraft.

WARNING – SPOILERS AHEAD! DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW!

“Top Gun: Maverick” is finally out, fulfilling a long-promised dream from Tom Cruise who was determined to reprise the character that catapulted him to superstardom. The late Tony Scott sadly is not in the director’s chair this time around, but Cruise is working with some familiar faces – his “Oblivion” filmmaker Joseph Kosinski directs, while his “Mission: Impossible” and “Jack Reacher” cohort Christopher McQuarrie is co-writer and producer.The sequel is racking up some incredibly positive reviews and is on track for a massive box office weekend, but what exactly are the viewing options? Here’s how to watch “Top Gun: Maverick”“Top Gun: Maverick” was released exclusively in theaters – including Imax theaters – on May 27.

Top Gun sequel ever happened, was forced to swallow his pride and some laces this week.On October 26, 2010, at exactly 7:42 pm., Patches declared on Twitter, “If ‘Top Gun 2’ happens, I will eat a shoe.”As “Top Gun: Maverick,” the highly-anticipated sequel to the classic ’80s movie, hits theaters Memorial Day weekend, Patches admitted, “I made a grave error.”The original tweet has since been deleted, but that hasn’t stopped it from resurfacing throughout the years. Paramount reportedly even joined in on the joke, sending Patches a cake shaped like a shoe.

Some fans might be sad to see that Kelly McGillis, who played Charlie in the original Top Gun movie, is not in the sequel.

"Top Gun" is back. After a two-year delay, "Top Gun: Maverick" is hitting theaters across the world Friday.The release of the action movie figures to be a big moment for box office recovery during the coronavirus pandemic. The film’s star, Tom Cruise, is expected to have his biggest career opening, with a four-day gross of at least $92 million, per official tracking.

Cruise is known for doing most of his own stunts. For this film he does them all zipping through the clouds and pulling up to eight Gs — a measure of gravitational force experienced through acceleration — which is comparable to 600 pounds pressing against your body. “So just to put it in perspective, it’s a level of power that most people never get to experience,” LaRosa said.The “Top Gun” star owns his own P-51 Mustang (a World War II fighter jet) which LaRosa said the actor flies “like it’s an extension of himself.” Cruise came onto the set with a love for and understanding of aviation, LaRosa said, and really wanted to inspire that passion in his new co-stars, including Miles Teller, Monica Barbaro and Glen Powell.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorIt is widely known that Tom Cruise would rather jump off a building or out of an airplane than resort to using CGI. Thus, when it came to filming “Top Gun: Maverick,” having access to the Navy equipment and expertise that informed the original 1986 hit was paramount for production designer Jeremy Hindle to create a believable, engaging action film.From an opening sequence aboard the flight deck of a USS aircraft carrier to an F-14 Tomcat plane, or a fleet of fighters, Hindle pulled out all the stops.The film brings back Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell — now a weathered test pilot.

original “Top Gun” movie debuted in 1986, the blockbuster led to a major bump in Navy recruiting — reportedly a whopping 500%.“I don’t know if that figure is accurate but I will tell you that it definitely had an effect on recruiting if only one guy, which is me,” Captain Brian Ferguson, 53, told The Post. “I saw the movie, thought it looked like the most exciting job in the world.