For anyone who has watched and loved the 1986 movie Top Gun and/or the 2022 movie Top Gun: Maverick, the 13th of May might be a holiday they place on their calendar. Why? Because this day is Top Gun Day — a day dedicated to the movie franchise that has a worldwide box office of more than $1.8 billion (yes, we said billion).

And the first movie only made $357 million of that total, with the balance being made by Top Gun: Maverick over the course of a year. This proves that there are evidently fans of this franchise who might want to celebrate this day.

The History Of Top Gun Day

Believe it or not, Top Gun Day is a holiday that’s been celebrated since 1986. The original Top Gun was released on May 16th, 1986, but for some reason, this holiday has been celebrated on the 13th.

It’s been celebrated ever since, although its popularity did wane from the 1990s through the early 2000s. However, this has all changed since the release of the new movie in 2022. Now, this holiday is as popular, or maybe even more so, than it has ever been.

Some Fast Facts About Top Gun Day

Anyone wanting to celebrate Top Gun Day is probably going to want to take the time to learn some new facts. Of course, why should people waste their time looking up their own facts when they can spend that time watching movies?

Well, now they don’t have to because we’ve listed some cool Top Gun facts that we feel people will enjoy using on friends and family days on May 13th every year.

• The role of Maverick was originally supposed to go to John Travolta.
• Tom Cruise was the second choice for Top Gun but originally turned it down.
• Patrick Swayze, Nicolas Cage, Michael J. Fox, and Tom Hanks also turned down the role of Maverick.
• Fortunately, Jerry Bruckheimer was able to convince Cruise to take the role.
• Cruise took the role because he had a good relationship with Ridley Scott who directed him in Legend. The director of Top Gun, Tony Scott, is Ridley’s brother.

Observing Top Gun Day

On this day, Top Gun fans are encouraged to watch both of the movies in the franchise. It’s also a good day to dress up as Goose or Maverick and let off some famous quotes from the movie.

Some Top Gun fans like to listen to some of the songs from the franchise to get into the mood as well. And people can also spread the news about this holiday by using the hashtag #TopGunDay on social media.