In an unusually tight box office battle, Baz Luhrmann’s rock’n’roll biopic Elvis and Top Gun: Maverick tied for the top spot in North America, with each film grossing $30.5 million over the weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.
The nearly three-hour long extravaganza by director Luhrmann, known for glitzy films like “Moulin Rouge!” and “The Great Gatsby,” brought in nearly double the average for the musical biography genre with Elvis and Top Gun: Maverick remaining locked in a stalemate all weekend.
For Elvis, a $30 million debut is impressive for a film aimed at older audiences, Analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said the film has impressed audiences and critics, Gross said.
“This is the Baz Luhrmann show, a music, dance and sex appeal spectacular. It’s a hit,” he said.
“Elvis” earned an estimated $30.5 million in its fifth weekend of release and is now the highest grossing film of the year worldwide, breaking the $1 billion mark with nearly $522 million in ticket sales in North America and $484 million overseas.
