This has been the spring and soon-to-be summer of Top Gun: Maverick. The Tom Cruise blockbuster sequel is ramping towards $1 billion in global box office, and it’s the feel-good hit of the past half-decade for a movie theater industry that has been clobbered and for America in general.
Cruise is back on top of his mantel of “biggest movie star in the world,” which means people want to be like him and will spend a lot of money to try to do it.
eBay reported that searches for the Porsche Design Chronograph 1 watch he wears in the original film had surged 1,850 percent since the opening of the new version of the film.
Fans have also been looking for the shades and jackets that Cruise wears, with Ray-Ban Aviator searches up 20& and flight jacket searches soaring by 25%.
There’s been a noticeable uptick in interest in one other key sector since the opening weekend of the film; military recruiting. The Pentagon has many things on its plate right now, dealing with threats from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, but one little bit of bright news is that Cruise might be their most effective recruiting tool.
Here’s what Maj. Gen. Edward W. Thomas told Fox News Digital.
“We did get a good recruiting bump from ‘Top Gun’ in 1986 when I went to the theaters and saw ‘Top Gun’ with my friends in ’86. I was already excited about military aviation, but I got even more excited.
“We expect ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to do the same,” he added. “You know, whether people want to aim high or fly Navy, we just want them to get excited about serving the nation in some capacity.”
In 1986, when the original Top Gun was released, the military saw a 500% increase in applications from aspiring pilots who wanted to become Naval Aviators.
Wow!