With just a week to go before the debut of Top Gun: Maverick in North American theaters, reports are surfacing from a variety of sources that the film is set to wow moviegoers this summer. Many are already claiming it will break box office records now and well into the foreseeable future an amazing feat considering the first film hit the silver screen way back in 1986. In fact, several days ago, GQ Magazine claimed “Top Gun: Maverick is the greatest blockbuster of the decade,” and, at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival, the movie supposedly received a five minute standing ovation from the select devotees granted an early viewing.

That said, its still difficult to understand why none of the major diecast modelmakers have taken steps to offer replicas of those aircraft portrayed in the film. Granted, Paramount Pictures, who owns the rights to the film, is asking a hefty licensing fee to produce a collector quality set of replicas, and Tom Cruise, the star of the film, is likely standing in the way of permitting his likenesses from being overlaid onto any pilot figure. Nevertheless, I would have thought that a workaround could have been devised by now whereby collectors could have their cake and eat it too even if they have to pay a premium for a model based on the latest Top Gun feature film. While a day and date release would have no doubt sold into the tens of thousands, we know from firsthand experience gleaned from Top Gun that replicas for the original film were still selling extremely well over thirty years after it was first shown. Time will tell if a diecast modelmaker will reevaluate their stance, pony up the necessary cash, and eventually churn out what can only be described as the best selling model of the decade, if the GQ boast can be applied here as well.