Top Gun Maverick stars say Best Picture Oscar would be a “beautiful thing”

Top Gun: Maverick stars Monica Barbaro and Lewis Pullman have reacted to the film’s Oscar chances amid predictions for a Best Picture nomination, saying it’d be a “beautiful thing.”

Top Gun: Maverick isn’t just the best movie of 2022, but one of the greatest action blockbusters of all time. It defied all expectations: it delivered an entertaining thrill ride; built on the legacy of the original; had great music; broke new ground in aerobatic filmmaking; and certified Tom Cruise as the movie star.

It’s the highest-grossing movie of the year, amassing a whopping $1.48 billion worldwide. Some credited Spider-Man: No Way Home with “saving cinema”, but we all know Top Gun: Maverick holds that crown.

Near-universal critical acclaim, an acting icon, technical excellency, and a billion-busting crowd-pleaser: it has all the ingredients to nab a Best Picture nomination, and its stars would like to see it get recognized by the Academy.

Top Gun Maverick stars address Oscar chances amid hopes for a Best Picture nomination

In an interview with Dexerto ahead of Top Gun: Maverick’s release on Blu-ray, Barbaro and Pullman – who play co-pilots Phoenix and Bob, respectively – spoke about the movie’s acclaim and how it’s been touted as an Oscar contender.

“I think one of the more rewarding things that’s happened as this movie rolled out is that really interesting, art-forward filmmakers have also loved the film; that it’s not just catered to sort of a commercial audience, but you know, it’s that it’s just been like enjoyed universally with people with all different kinds of tastes, I think is just really cool.

“So, I think that’s why it kind of earned that recognition… potentially! I mean, we don’t know if that’s gonna happen, but it could, and that would be a beautiful thing.”

For your consideration… and a free dopamine hit:

Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Gold Derby all have Top Gun: Maverick in their Best Picture predictions. It’s a serious player heading into awards season; in terms of other commercial competitors, there’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Avatar: The Way of Water.

Pullman recognized the movie’s success for retaining the “alchemy” of what made the first one so beloved, while pushing the franchise’s legacy to new heights.

“You know, there’s a lot of movies will try and make an algorithm for the perfect movie, and it’s like, you know, fitting a round peg into a square hole,” he said.

“I think it’s, it requires a lot of… random variables colliding and a lot of hard work. Tom and [director] Joseph Kosinski were basically very adamant about not making it a perfect movie, but also inserting heart and inserting all the same nostalgia that was there, but also not forcing anything, trying to find something new.

“They were really good about like keeping that kind of like alchemy just perfect.”

Top Gun: Maverick is available on DVD, Blu-ray™& 4K Ultra-HD™ October 31.