NEW YORK, United States (AP) — The high-flying “Top Gun: Maverick” continued to soar in its second weekend, dropping just 32 per cent from its opening with US$86 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Paramount Pictures release, with Tom Cruise reprising his role from the 1986 original, is holding steadier than any film of its kind has before. Its modest drop — 50-65 per cent is more typical for blockbusters — is the smallest decline for a movie that opened above US$100 million. “Top Gun: Maverick” debuted with US$124 million last weekend, scoring Cruise’s biggest opening yet.

Overseas, director Joseph Kosinski’s film is performing even better. In 64 overseas markets, “Top Gun: Maverick” dipped only 20 per cent in its second weekend with US$81.7 million.

Riding stellar word of mouth, terrific reviews and a global promotional tour, “Top Gun: Maverick” has already grossed US$548.6 million worldwide, making it easily one the biggest hits of Cruise’s career. In domestic ticket sales (US$291.6 million thus far), the “Top Gun” sequel already ranks as the 59-year-old’s best performer.

While “Top Gun: Maverick” is unlikely to match the US$1.89 billion worldwide of Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the biggest box-office smash of the pandemic, Cruise and company have been hailed for leading the final push in the recovery of movie theatres. Paramount delayed its release two years.

But whereas “No Way Home” had little-to-no big-budget competition through January, “Top Gun: Maverick” kicks off a string of more closely packed summer movies. Next weekend, Universal Pictures debuts “Jurassic World: Dominion,” the culmination of the dinosaur franchise trilogy of sequels. The week after that, the Walt Disney Co releases “Toy Story” spinoff “Lightyear,” the first Pixar release to open in theatres in more than two years.

“Top Gun: Maverick,” which actually added screens in its second week to extend its record total to 4,751, will soon find itself in more of a dog fight for audience attention.

“Jurassic World: Dominion” got a head start over the weekend in 15 international markets, where the Colin Trevorrow-directed film grossed US$55.5 million. Universal said that was in line with the previous franchise entries. “Jurassic World” made US$1.67 billion in 2015, while its 2018 follow-up, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” grossed US$1.31 billion.

In US and Canadian theatres, no new wide release challenged “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Vikram,” an Indian Tamil-language action thriller, opened with US$1.8 million in 460 theatres.

Fresh off its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future” opened with US$1.1 million in 773 theatres. The Neon release, starring Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux and Kristen Stewart, is the Canadian auteur’s first film in eight years.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.