by Thinus Ferreira
Top Gun: Maverick, the Tom Cruise-led film sequel to 1986's Top Gun, has helped to lift the slumped South African box office back up where it belongs, to paraphrase the title of one of the Hans Zimmer songs in the movie - with the film's big nostalgia factor helping to lure back especially older South cinemagoers who've stayed away because of Covid.
South African exhibitors like Ster-Kinekor and Nu Metro are once again smiling, as the 35+ cinema crowd are venturing back into malls and cinemas to watch Top Gun: Maverick - pulled by the nostalgia factor of seeing Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer again as they did decades ago as kids.
"The performance of Top Gun: Maverick has been astounding and it certainly has given cinema a huge boost," Stefan Rheeder, United International Pictures (UIP) marketing manager, tells TVwithThinus.
"It feels as if
ticketing is ticking over once more, but also that older audiences – when
looking at Top: Gun Maverick and even Elvis – are frequenting cinema houses
again and it shows a real sign of confidence for this out-of-home
entertainment experience."
Stefan Rheeder says Top Gun: Maverick initially started playing towards "older, nostalgic
audiences, but with a strong box office performance, we can now
undoubtedly say that it has broken out to younger demographics too".
"For
exhibitors, this must be music to their ears and they definitely want and
need big tentpole titles to keep the experience front of mind, but also
the business ticking over."
Next UIP will be releasing Beast on 12 August in South Africa, which Rheeder says proudly boasts a number of South African elements.
"Idris Elba stars
in this pulse-pounding new thriller about a father and his two teenage
daughters who find themselves hunted by a massive rogue lion intent on
proving that the savannah has but one apex predator."
"Co-starring in the
film alongside Elba is South African actor, Sharlto Copley together with
Iyana Halley and Leah Sava Jeffries. The film was shot entirely in South
Africa and locations included Cape Town, Limpopo and Northern Province."
The final showdown was filmed in the Northern Cape, on the Namibia
border.
Then UIP is also bringing Puss in Boots: The Last Wish to South African cinemas lined up for the country's summer holiday in December when the leche-loving, swashbuckling and fear-defying feline returns to the big screen.
"For the first time in more
than a decade, DreamWorks Animation presents a new adventure in the Shrek
universe, as daring outlaw Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for
peril and disregard for safety have taken their toll," Stefan Rheeder says.
"Puss has burned
through eight of his nine lives, though he lost count along the way.
Getting those lives back will send Puss in Boots on his grandest quest
yet. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish features an all-star comedic cast that
includes Academy Award nominee Antonio Banderas who returns as the voice
of the notorious Puss in Boots."
