Top Gun: Maverick Was Delayed Due to World Tour Plans Being Complicated

While vaccines are currently being administered around the world, the future of movie theaters looks promising, which resulted in fans being surprised with the announcement that Top Gun: Maverick was being delayed from July to November, though this is reportedly due more to how Tom Cruise hoped to celebrate the film's release with a world tour than to the number of open theaters. Given that fans have been waiting to see a new film in the series since the debut installment hit theaters in 1986, it's understandable that Cruise would want to honor fans around the world with a tour, but current travel restrictions would likely mean some regions would have to be left out this summer. Top Gun: Maverick is now slated to hit theaters on November 19th.

The Hollywood Reporter noted of the situation, "The decision to delay Top Gun, directed by Joseph Kosinski, isn't a signal other tentpoles will move. Sources close to the film tell The Hollywood Reporter that Cruise wants to embark on a world tour in advance of the opening, something that would now be impossible in much of Europe, where there are once again lockdowns, and possibly Japan."

In the sequel, "After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy's top aviators, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: 'Rooster,' the son of Maverick's late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka 'Goose.' Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it."

The film was originally slated to hit theaters last summer, only to first be delayed to the holidays, though was then delayed again to this summer. Between vaccinations and social distancing protocols, movie theaters have been able to either reopen or increase their auditorium capacity, with Black Widow positioning itself to be one of the biggest films in the coming months that could see an almost complete return to cinemas.

Top Gun: Maverick hits theaters on November 19th.

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