In 2013, a 3D computer-animated sports comedy movie called “Planes” was released by Disney. It is a spin-off of Pixar’s Cars franchise. For a small but significant moment in time, a “Top Gun” cast reunion was brought to life with 3D animation. A small tribute was made to “Top Gun” when Val Kilmer and Anthony Edwards were brought on to the voice cast for the film.
“Planes” wasn’t the smash hit we witnessed with “Cars” and received negative reviews. Despite this, it managed to gross $90,288,712 in the United States and Canada, and $148,970,000 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $239,258,712. So, you can consider that quite the box office success.
The Biggest Box Office Smash in 1986
Although a high cost accompanied the making of the film due to the use of real Navy and flight equipment, the cost proved to pay off. In 1986, "Top Gun" was the highest-grossing film of the year, making $177 million in the United States alone and $353 million worldwide.
It came in first even before "Crocodile Dundee", which came in second, and "Platoon" in third. Considering that the film cost $15 million to make, "Top Gun" had a huge revenue and continued to take in money after they decided to release the film in other countries.
Bryan Adams Wouldn’t Allow His Music to Be Used
Bryan Adams was approached by the "Top Gun" crew to use his song "Only the Strong Survive" on the soundtrack. The singer, due to personal views, turned down the offer. So, producers had to continue on their search to find their soon-to-be best-selling soundtrack.
Adams later shared that he turned down the request because he felt that the movie glorified fighting and war. For this reason, he told producers to look for other music for the film. While the film without a doubt focused largely on fighter jets and their pilots, in the final film product, little fighting was included.
A VHS First Was Sold Alongside Top Gun
When the "Top Gun" VHS was released in 1987, Paramount Studios imagined that it would allow them to earn extra cash while selling the movie to Blockbuster and other movie rental companies at a discount.
The VHS release of "Top Gun" was the first VHS to feature an official commercial before the movie. Paramount Pictures, which produced the film, made a deal with Pepsi. They agreed to include a commercial for the brand's diet soda before the opening credits. Before the movie started, Diet Pepsi had a 60-second "Top Gun" inspired commercial. The "Top Gun" movie was sold for $3 less per copy, an affordable price of $26.95, because of the extra money the movie studio earned from PepsiCo.
It Cost More Money to Make the Charlie Sheen Parody
With a cast that was still up and coming, the most expensive part of "Top Gun" was the $10,000 per hour jet fighter rental fee. It cost just $15 million to film the movie and that included Tom Cruise’s salary of $2 million. In comparison, Charlie Sheen’s "Top Gun" parody "Hot Shots!" cost $26 million to film. The 1991 comedy film is a parody of "Top Gun" alongside other popular movies.
While "Top Gun" wasn't initially a big success, "Hot Shots" debuted at number one in the U.S. and was a critical and commercial success, grossing over $180 million worldwide. It also holds an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes compared with the 54% rating that "Top Gun" has on the same site.