** Shares of cinema operators gaining altitude on Fri ahead
of long-awaited debut of "Top Gun: Maverick", which is set to
hit the big screen amid high expectations
** AMC Entertainment AMC.N up 7.6%, Cinemark CNK.N 5.4%,
Imax IMAX.N 5.7% and London-based Cineworld CINE.L 2.9%.
Paramount Global PARA.O gaining 3.3%
** Paramount's "Top Gun" getting top billing on retail
trading forum Stocktwits.com
** Movie critics gushing over Tom Cruise's return as cocky
Navy pilot Pete Mitchell after 36 years urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2X42MF
** Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice Pro, estimated
that ticket sales would hit $100 mln over Memorial Day weekend
in the U.S. and Canada, which would make it the highest-grossing
debut of Cruise's career
** The movie has already received 97% critic rating and 99%
audience score on Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/top_gun_maverick
(Reporting by Lance Tupper and Noel Randewich
Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-332-219-1430))