Top Gun: Maverick has been named the best film of 2022 by the National Board of Review, a strong indicator that it could be on its way to a Best Picture nomination.
The National Board of Review’s Best Film winner has been consistent with at least earning a nod for the Academy Award for Best Picture. In fact, since 2000, only three winners didn’t receive a nomination–2000’s Quills, 2014’s A Most Violent Year and 2020’s Da 5 Bloods–suggesting that Top Gun: Maverick could make it to the list of nominees.
However, as far as actual Best Picture winners go, only three this century have gone on to take home the statue: 2007’s No Country for Old Men, 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire and 2018’s Green Book. This, of course, wouldn’t bode well for Top Gun: Maverick, although we’re sure there aren’t many pundits who are predicting the sequel to actually win.
The National Board of Review doesn’t typically go for action-oriented movies when it comes to the Best Film honor. However, it did award it to Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015, showing a clear respect for the genre. Top Gun: Maverick also took home Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography this year.
Top Gun: Maverick has been a box office juggernaut, grossing over $1.48 billion worldwide. It’s currently the fifth highest-grossing movie ever, just behind 2009’s Avatar. Avatar’s sequel, The Way of Water, also made it to the National Board of Reviews’ Top 10 films. The rest of the list: Aftersun, The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, RRR, Till, The Woman King, and Women Talking.
The Academy Award nominations are announced on January 24th.
What do you think? Could Top Gun: Maverick snag a nomination for Best Picture? Let us know your predictions below!