Tom Cruise arrives at the premiere of 'Top Gun: Maverick' in London, Britain May 19, 2022. (Photo: REUTERS)

In its second weekend of release, Tom Cruise's all-American action film collected a sensational 86 million USD from North American theaters. Those returns rank among the top 10 highest-grossing second weekends in domestic box office history.

Pandemic times or not, the Paramount and Skydance release is eclipsing significant box office milestones at record speed. After only 10 days on the big screen, "Top Gun: Maverick" has generated more than 290 million in North America and nearly 550 million globally.

Ticket sales for "Top Gun: Maverick" dropped only 32% from its 160 million USD debut over the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. It's the smallest second-weekend decline for a movie that opened to 100 million USD or more, according to Comscore.