Almost four months after its release, Top Gun: Maverick, the sequel to the Tom Cruise fighter jet movie, has returned to the top of the North American box office, reflecting a lacklustre end to the summer for Hollywood and film theatres, according to provisional estimates on Monday (5 September) from trade body Exhibitor Relations.

The Paramount/Sky dance mega-production took in $7.9 million in the US and Canada from Friday, 2 September to Monday, 5 September. A relatively low figure despite a three-day weekend including Labor Day on Monday, 5 September.

There was no major Hollywood news, as Americans, who could enjoy National Movie Day on Saturday 1 September, with tickets priced at only USD 2.98 nationwide, fell back on previously released films, such as Top Gun: Maverick, which now has USD 701 million at the US box office (USD 740 million abroad), or Bullet Train, the action film starring Brad Pitt, in second place with USD 7.3 million.

In third place was Spider-Man: No Way Home, released last December but re-released by Sony with eleven minutes more. The film took in USD 6.6 million.

With its super-powered canine hero, the animated film Krypto and the Super Animals came in fourth (USD 6.4 million), just ahead of the horror film Hell’s Ball (USD 6 million).