'Top Gun: Maverick': New Movie Teams up With Xbox for Special Project
Top Gun: Maverick is out in theatres now, and video game fans are in for a special treat. This week, Xbox announced that the Microsoft Flight Simulator expansion pack that's focused on Top Gun: Maverick is now available for gamers. The press release says that Microsoft Flight Simulator — Top Gun: Maverick Expansion "will push your piloting abilities to the limits — and beyond."
The expansion includes three training mission for the F/A – 18 E Super Hornet that allows gamers to master flight maneuvers. It also includes five high-speed, low-level challenges that require skill to navigate and a carrier deck landing challenge. The content pack is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PC with Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Windows 10/11, Steam and on Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Top Gun: Maverick is the sequel to Top Gun which was released in 1986. The film stars Tom Cruise as Captian Pete "Maverick" Mitchell who trains a group of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission. The film also stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Ed Harris and Val Kilmer who also starred in Top Gun with Cruise.
In an interview with Indiewire, Barbaro talked about the months of training before filming. "It was so much fun. I love being infused with that much purpose on a project to get to really dive into a character," she said. "One of my favorite things about getting to act is that you dive into these different lives and you get to take on the training, the skills, or attempt to take on the skills of the real people who do this, whether that's learning music or flying in fighter jets."
Top Gun: Maverick is on pace to be the biggest movie of the year. According to CNN, the film is expected to make $80 million for its three-day opening, and some experts believe it will make close to $100. "Tom Cruise is one of the few true movie stars left in the business," Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore (SCOR), told CNN Business. "His name on the marquee means something to audiences who have come to trust that his films will be worth every dollar of that movie ticket purchase."