The movie reintroduces the characters from the 1986 classic and appears to have struck a chord with older fans with its traditional male values and ‘bromance’ storyline.
It focuses on the relationship between Cruise’s Maverick and the son of his dead best friend, Goose, alongside spectacular aerial action scenes.
And as it was shown to 2,900 number of fans, acting legend Tom, 62, was spotted from the balconies over looking crowds of viewers.
Tom cut a sharp figure for the appearance as he wore black two-piece suit layered over a crisp white shirt and black tie.
After enjoying the incredible performance, he stood from the balcony waving to hands while gesturing to his heart.
He then joined the talented orchestra on stage to give a special thanks to the performers and say hello to thousands of fans.
After thanking the audience for ‘making his dreams come true’ he was met with a roar of applause from adoring fans.
According to the Royal Albert Hall site; ‘They experienced the Academy Award winning blockbuster on the big screen, with Lorne Balfe, Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga and Hans Zimmer’s epic score performed live-to-picture by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, conducted by Lorne Balfe himself.’
The film earned the Hollywood legend his first ever $100 million opening weekend.
And it also brought grown men to tears, with many sharing stories of hearing ‘sobbing’ in the theatre on social media.
Glen Powell, who stars in the movie, took to X during the opening week in 2022 to declare the flick should be a ‘safe place for man-tears’.
He was replying to a post from a user which read: ‘Top Gun: Maverick; shout out to the guy next to me who’s girlfriend made fun of him for crying at the end.’
A flurry of cinemagoers rushed to the comments to share similar experiences and offer a virtual shoulder to cry on.
One penned: ‘I saw it Thursday. There was an older gentleman in front of us who was wiping his eyes a few times.’
‘I cried FIVE times. It’s dudes and dads season.’
‘The dadTM next to me was flat out sobbing and I will say I teared up multiple times and I’m not a crier at all,’
‘My least favorite part of Top Gun: Maverick was when my girlfriend loudly said ‘are you crying?’ and a bunch of people started looking at me.’
‘I respectfully asked when it was over, fully knowing he cried. Twice. Let it out, boys. It’s ok.’
‘Don’t worry dude there was s lot of pollen in the theatres. My eyes were running half the movie. Outside was fine though.’
‘I took my kids and they were watching me tearing up and then after told me about all the big men & women around them tearing up. It hits you in the feels. It was fantastic.’
It came as it was revealed that the 80s hit reboot broke a 15-year-old box office record.
The film opened in 4,732 North American theaters over the holiday frame, the widest release in cinematic history, besting the 2019 remake of The Lion King (4,725 theatres).
It also marks the second-highest debut of 2022, behind Marvel’s Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which took in $187.4 million on the first weekend of May.
The long-awaited sequel also marked a personal best for Tom Cruise, giving the action icon his first $100 million movie in his storied 40-year career.
The $156-million tally was more than enough to best the 59-year-old actor’s previous best opening weekend – War of the Worlds’ $64 million back in 2005.
The film from director Joseph Kosinski – who worked with Cruise in the 2013 film Oblivion – also took in $128 million from foreign markets, for a worldwide opening weekend tally of $248 million from a huge $170 million budget.
The film earned $21 million from IMAX theatres alone, boasting rave reviews with 96% on critic aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Along with the critical reception, fans also chimed in giving the sequel an incredibly rare A+ grade on CinemaScore.
It was also revealed that over 55% of ticket buyers for Top Gun: Maverick were 35 years of age or older.
The film was originally supposed to be released in June 2020, though Paramount decided to hold off on the release until more fans are able to return.
‘I’m gratified we made this decision to hang on. This movie is going to have a huge run. It’s going to draw people to theaters who haven’t been in a long time,’ said Paramount’s domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson.