Business

WASHINGTON (AP) — China, the world’s top emitter of carbon dioxide that causes global warming, has seen a notable dip in its emissions over the past three quarters — but it’s not clear how long the drop will continue.

A new analysis of China’s economic data shows that carbon emissions dropped 1.4% in the first three months of the year, compared to the prior year, making it the third consecutive quarter to show a drop — and the longest sustained dip in a decade.

The downward trend began last year and accelerated over the winter. The decline continued but was milder this spring.

It’s not clear whether China’s emissions will continue to fall this year. Over the past decade, five shorter dips were followed by rebounding emissions.

China’s recent emissions decline was driven by decreased output in cement, steel and power industries, as well as COVID lockdown measures, according to an analysis by Lauri Myllyvirta, a Finland-based climate and energy analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

“Steel and cement are China’s second and third largest emitting sectors, and the demand for both sectors is largely driven by construction activity,” but policy changes on real estate lending and debt have at least temporarily depressed the construction sector, Myllyvirta wrote in an analysis for Carbon Brief.

Whether China meets its long-term goal to become carbon neutral by 2060 depends in large part on what happens in its power sector.

And that depends upon how quickly the world’s second largest economy can move away from coal.

China’s leaders have recently doubled-down on plans to promote coal-fired power, calling for coal production capacity to increase by 300 million tons this year, or 7% over last year.

Li Shuo, a senior global policy adviser for Greenpeace, told the Associated Press in April that economic concerns, including those related to China’s zero-COVID policy, meant that China’s leaders were prioritizing energy security over moving away from fossil fuels, at least in the short-term.

“This mentality of ensuring energy security has become dominant, trumping carbon neutrality,” he said.

China is currently the world’s largest carbon emitter, although other countries, such as the United States, have contributed a greater share of historic emissions.

China’s carbon emissions increased by 750 megatonnes over the two-year period between 2019 and 2021, driving the global rebound in carbon emissions after the first phase of pandemic, according to the nonprofit Paris-based International Energy Agency.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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EU To Boycott 90% of Russian Oil by End of Year

Lebanon, Yemen especially vulnerable to higher energy prices produced by sanctions, experts say

European Union leaders in Brussels agreed on Monday night to ban the seaborne import of Russian oil – about two-thirds of the total − by the end of 2022. And while landlocked Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic will continue to receive Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline, Germany and Poland have pledged to voluntarily forgo it, bringing the total cut in imports to about 90%.

This is the sixth round of sanctions imposed by Europe on the Russian Federation since the war in Ukraine began.

Talks on an oil boycott had been taking place since the beginning of May. However, they were stalled because Hungary wanted to continue to buy Russian oil.

The sanctions are expected to cause global oil prices to rise.

In the Middle East, some countries could suffer collateral damage; others will benefit.

Nader Itayim, Dubai-based Mideast Gulf editor at Argus Media, told The Media Line the countries that will most benefit are the region’s oil exporters.

“Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, and even Iran despite the sanctions will all be benefiting from $100+/barrel oil,” he said.

Itayim explained that higher prices translate into higher state revenues, which first will help these countries to alleviate any short-to-medium-term budgetary issues that they may be facing, possibly because of COVID-19, and second finance their plans to diversify their economies away from hydrocarbons.

The region’s oil importers will suffer. He cited Lebanon, Jordan, and even Israel.

For them, he said, “higher oil prices translate into higher import costs for the state, which put pressure on state finances and foreign exchange reserves.”

Robin Mills, CEO of Qamar Energy and author of The Myth of the Oil Crisis, explained to The Media Line that while the increase in oil prices benefits exporters and hurts importers, there are other factors that are important to consider.

While oil-importing countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon suffer from higher prices, they may to some extent recover from higher remittances from their citizens working in oil-exporting states and from aid from oil-exporting governments, he said.

On the other hand, he continued, “the non-oil sector in oil-exporter [countries] is also negatively affected by higher prices, especially in countries where oil price rises are passed on to domestic fuel prices, such as the United Arab Emirates.”

The negative effects are reflected in fuel shortages, higher fuel prices, and general inflation, Mills explained. “This can be increased when governments have to cut back on fuel subsidies,” he noted.

So far, he continued, “we have not seen much of that in the region, but it happened in previous situations of rising food and fuel prices.”

For now, it has mostly affected Lebanon, but Egyptians and Iranians could also suffer if they have to reduce subsidies, Mills said.

Mohammed al-Qadhi, a Yemeni political adviser at the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, told The Media Line that Yemen is one of the countries most hurt by rising oil prices.

His country is already harshly affected by the Ukraine war due to the lack of wheat exports.

Concerning the high oil prices, Qadhi added, Yemen will be badly hurt because it imports crude oil for the local market and for power stations.

Yemen is normally an oil producer, he explained. However, because of the civil war that began in 2014, it halted production.

Now with the truce, Qadhi continued, “only a few companies resumed their production of oil, but it is not that much and … it will be shipped to sell it outside of Yemen.”

Yemenis are suffering a great deal because of the price of fuel, which is already very high, he said.

This, he explained, has resulted in a black market all over the country, especially in the areas under the control of the Houthis. “This black market is generating millions according to international organizations,” Qadhi said.

Already now, before the latest jump in oil prices is felt, people and vehicles wait in long lines to get gasoline, he said. This is happening both in the Houthi-controlled areas and in Aden, the headquarters of the internationally recognized interim government.

“Yemen is already facing a lot of problems, and if oil prices rise more, it is going to face more problems,” Qadhi said.

Mills said governments could implement policies to reduce people’s suffering from increases in the cost of energy.

“They can phase in subsidy reductions, offer other support to lower-income citizens, and improve non-oil options,” he said.

Qadhi, however, is not optimistic about the Yemeni government’s ability to act.

He described the Yemeni government as “toothless” when it comes to alleviating the effects of higher oil prices.

“It is not capable of doing anything,” he said. “They are depending on the Saudis for fuel in the gas stations, and we don’t know how much longer they are going to aid Yemen,” Qadhi said.

Itayim said the answer is for governments to plan and think ahead.

“In a word: planning,” he said. In the past, he explained, “particularly in some GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries, you would see clear shifts in policy between times of boom [high oil prices] and bust [lower prices].”

In boom times, Itayim added, “you’d see governments regularly implement public sector wage hikes and give generous handouts to the people, instead of diversifying and reinvesting in the economy, while in times of bust, public spending would really be scaled back.

“I think those days are behind us now,” he noted.

Itayim believes that governments in energy exporter countries will continue to focus on strengthening their economies and balance sheets, to make sure they are better prepared for any future price falls.

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BERLIN (AP) — Deutsche Bank subsidiary DWS said Wednesday that its chief executive is resigning, hours after authorities raided its offices as part of a probe into claims that the company exaggerated the sustainable credentials of some of the financial products.

CEO Asoka Woehrmann is set to step down after the company’s annual general meeting on June 9, DWS said. He will be succeeded by Stefan Hoops, who currently oversees Deutsche Bank’s corporate and commercial client activities.

In a statement, Woehrmann said DWS was profitable and stable despite difficult market conditions.

“At the same time, the allegations made against DWS and myself in past months have become a burden for the company, as well as for my family and me,” he was quoted as saying. “In order to protect the institution and those closest to me, I would like to clear the way for a fresh start.”

Some 50 investigators searched the offices of DWS and Deutsche Bank on Tuesday, Frankfurt prosecutors said.

The raids were triggered by a former manager in charge of sustainability, who claimed that DWS had engaged in “greenwashing” by exaggerating the environmental and climate credentials of certain funds it sold.

Prosecutors said initial investigations showed there were sufficient indications that environmental, social, and governance criteria were not considered in a majority of the funds featured in the company’s sales brochures.

Deutsche Bank said Tuesday that the actions taken by prosecutors were “directed against unknown people in connection with greenwashing allegations against DWS.”

“DWS said that they have continuously cooperated fully with all relevant regulators and authorities on this matter and will continue to do so,” the bank said Tuesday.

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(Corrects to fiscal 2023 from fiscal 2022 in paragraph 2)

(Reuters) -Michael Kors owner Capri Holdings Ltd raised its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday, signaling robust demand for its luxury goods as higher-income consumers return to their old shopping routines.

The company forecast fiscal 2023 profit of about $6.85 per share, compared with its prior estimate of about $6.60 per share.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)

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By Tom Sims, Frank Siebelt and Paul Carrel

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -The chief executive of top German asset manager DWS will step down next week, he said on Wednesday, a day after raids by prosecutors over allegations that the company misled investors about “green” investments.

The raids and departure of DWS CEO Asoka Woehrmann mark another setback for Deutsche Bank, DWS’s majority owner, which has been trying to move on from regulatory breaches, including money laundering and securities misselling, leading to billions in fines.

DWS has been dogged by the accusations for months, prompting German prosecutors to conduct the raids on DWS and the headquarters of Deutsche Bank on Tuesday.

German and U.S. officials have been investigating reports and a whistleblower’s allegations that DWS had exaggerated the green credentials of investments it sold – a practice known as greenwashing. DWS has repeatedly denied that it misled investors.

The management change had been in the works for some time but was ultimately made at meetings late on Tuesday in the wake of the raids, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Woehrmann, told employees in a memo that it was a joy to see DWS flourish but that “allegations …, however unfounded or undefendable, have left a mark”.

“To quote Charles Dickens: it was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he said in the memo, which was seen by Reuters.

Deutsche Bank, which retained majority ownership of DWS after its initial public offering, has marketed itself as bank companies can turn to as they seek a greener future.

UNCERTAINTY

On Tuesday German prosecutors said that “sufficient factual evidence has emerged” to show that environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors were taken into account in a minority of investments “but were not taken into account at all in a large number of investments”, contrary to statements in DWS fund sales prospectuses.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and German financial watchdog BaFin last year launched separate investigations into the whistleblower’s allegations. The whistleblower, a former head of sustainability at DWS, had said the company overstated how it used sustainable investing criteria to manage investments.

In February, Deutsche Bank agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice to extend the stay of a special monitor at the bank after it failed to report allegations involving DWS in a timely manner.

Shares in DWS have slumped 26% since the SEC and BaFin investigations were made public in August last year. They were down about 7% midday on Wednesday.

The accusations show “greenwashing is not a trivial offence,” said Magdalena Senn of the German consumer advocacy group Finanzwende.

“The raid and the resignation will have a signal effect for other asset managers,” she said.

Credit Suisse analysts said Woehrmann’s departure was a disappointment because he successfully implemented reform and turnaround at DWS.

“We see the change of leadership heralding a period of uncertainty for DWS’ strategy – and could even raise questions over its future as an independent asset management company,” Credit Suisse said.

DWS and Deutsche Bank on Tuesday said that the asset manager had cooperated with regulators and authorities in the past and would continue to do so.

UNDER PRESSURE

Woehrmann has been under pressure on multiple fronts since the greenwashing allegations broke.

Deutsche Bank conducted an internal investigation into Woehrmann’s possible private email usage for business purposes, and the European Central Bank also looked into corporate governance issues surrounding him.

He has also received threatening letters, including one in December with red crosshairs, white powder and a racial slur.

When asked about the allegations in a DWS earnings call with analysts, Woehrmann said he emphatically rejected all the allegations.

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing publicly backed Woehrmann in January, saying he had done a wonderful job.

Stefan Hoops, who has been overseeing Deutsche Bank’s corporate banking division since 2019, will replace Woehrmann from June 10, the bank said.

Hoops has not been involved in asset management over the past two decades, though Deutsche Bank said he was “a proven capital markets specialist”.

Woehrmann’s resignation takes effect on June 9, the day of its annual general meeting.

(Reporting by Paul Carrel, Tom Sims and Frank Siebelt; Additional reporting by Anna PruchnickaEditing by Bradley Perrett, David Goodman, Jane Merriman and Sabine Wollrab)

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By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will grant a shorter regulatory compliance program extension to Boeing than planemaker sought, so it can ensure the company implements “required improvements,” the agency said on Tuesday.

The FAA opted to renew Boeing’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program for three years rather than the five years Boeing had asked for.

Boeing did not immediately comment.

The FAA, which delegates some tasks to Boeing under a long-standing program, said Tuesday that “during the three-year period, the FAA will verify that Boeing completes required improvements” to the program including ensuring employees can “act without interference by company officials.”

In December, a U.S. Senate report said the FAA must do a better job overseeing Boeing and the certification of new airplanes, as well as review allegations raised by whistleblowers.

Congress passed sweeping reforms in December 2020 to how the FAA certifies new airplanes after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people and led to the plane’s 20-month grounding.

“FAA’s oversight of the certification process has eroded,” the report found, saying the agency “over time, increasingly delegated away its authority” to Boeing and others.

Then FAA Administrator Steve Dickson told Congress late last year the agency was delegating fewer tasks to Boeing.

The FAA said Tuesday the shorter renewal was in part “due to a number of items that must be tracked and completed during that timeframe.” The FAA letter said it expects “the next three years should provide ample time for these improvement activities to be completed.”

The FAA “will also track the timely implementation of corrective actions, updates to the Boeing ODA Procedures Manual, self-audits and the effective implementation of the Boeing Safety Management System.”

The FAA continues to inspect all Boeing 737 MAXs to determine airworthiness and will also inspect all 787 Dreamliners once Boeing addresses quality issues and deliveries resume.

In November, the acting head of the FAA office that oversees Boeing told the company that some appointees performing work for FAA did not have required expertise and were not meeting FAA expectations.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and Aurora Ellis)

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By Andrew Chung

(Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a Texas law that bars large social media companies from banning or censoring users based on “viewpoint,” siding with two technology industry groups that have argued that the Republican-backed measure would turn platforms into “havens of the vilest expression imaginable.”

The justices, in a 5-4 decision, granted a request by NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which count Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as members, to block the law while litigation continues after a lower court on May 11 let it go into effect.

The industry groups sued to try to block the law, challenging it as a violation of the free speech rights of companies, including to editorial discretion on their platforms, under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch issued a written dissent, saying that it is “not at all obvious how our existing precedents, which predate the age of the internet, should apply to large social media companies.” Liberal Justice Elena Kagan separately dissented but did not offer any reasons.

The Texas law was passed by the state’s Republican-led legislature and signed by its Republican governor. Its passage comes as U.S. conservatives and right-wing commentators complain that “Big Tech” is suppressing their views. These people cite as a prominent example Twitter’s permanent suspension of Republican former President Donald Trump from the platform shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters, with the company citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.”

The law, formally known as HB20, forbids social media companies with at least 50 million monthly active users from acting to “censor” users based on “viewpoint,” and allows either users or the Texas attorney general to sue to enforce it.

In signing the bill last September, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said, “There is a dangerous movement by some social media companies to silence conservative ideas and values. This is wrong and we will not allow it in Texas.”

The industry groups said the state’s law would unconstitutionally allow for government control of private speech. Restricting the platforms’ editorial control, the groups said, “would compel platforms to disseminate all sorts of objectionable viewpoints – such as Russia’s propaganda claiming that its invasion of Ukraine is justified.”

“Instead of platforms engaging in editorial discretion, platforms will become havens of the vilest expression imaginable: pro-Nazi speech, hostile foreign government propaganda, pro-terrorist-organization speech, and countless more examples,” they added.

The groups also denounced what they called “viewpoint discrimination against ‘Big Tech,’” in the Texas law through its exclusion of smaller social media platforms popular among conservatives such as Parler, Gab, Gettr and Trump’s own Truth Social.

U.S. Judge Robert Pitman in the state capital Austin blocked the law last December. Pitman ruled that the constraints on how the platforms disseminate content violate the First Amendment.

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently put Pitman’s decision on hold two days after hearing oral arguments in the case. The 5th Circuit has yet to issue a ruling on the merits of the case.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court has blocked a Texas law, championed by conservatives, that aimed to keep social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter from censoring users based on their viewpoints.

The court voted in an unusual 5-4 alignment Tuesday to put the Texas law on hold, while a lawsuit plays out in lower courts.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett voted to grant the emergency request from two technology industry groups that challenged the law in federal court.

The majority provided no explanation for its decision, as is common in emergency matters on what is informally known as the court’s “shadow docket.”

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch would have allowed the law to remain in effect.

In dissent, Alito wrote, “Social media platforms have transformed the way people communicate with each other and obtain news.”

It’s not clear how the high court’s past First Amendment cases, many of which predate the internet age, apply to Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and other digital platforms, Alito wrote in an opinion joined by fellow conservatives Thomas and Gorsuch but not Kagan.

The order follows a ruling last week by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found a similar Florida law likely violates the First Amendment’s free speech protections.

Republican elected officials in several states have backed laws like those enacted in Florida and Texas that sought to portray social media companies as generally liberal in outlook and hostile to ideas outside of that viewpoint, especially from the political right.

The Texas law was initially blocked by a district judge, but then allowed to take effect by a panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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By Oliver Hirt

ZURICH (Reuters) -Credit Suisse is in the early stages of weighing options to bolster its capital after a string of losses has eroded its financial buffers, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The size of the increase would be likely to exceed 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.04 billion), but this has not yet been determined, said one of the people, who declined to be named because the deliberations are still internal.

The cash injection would help Switzerland’s second-biggest bank to recover from billions of losses in 2021 and a series of costly legal headaches.

Selling shares to some of its major existing investors is the preferred option, but Credit Suisse has not ruled out tapping all shareholders, this person said.

A sale of a business, such as Credit Suisse’s asset management division, is also a possibility, the other person said. The bank had not yet decided on any potential action, they said. Any transaction was envisaged for the second half of this year.

“Credit Suisse is currently not considering raising additional equity capital,” the bank said in a statement.

“The Group is robustly capitalised with a CET1 ratio of 13.8% and a CET1 leverage ratio of 4.3%. Asset Management is an essential part of our group strategy presented last November, with four core divisions.”

The CET1 ratio is a key gauge of a bank’s financial strength.

Credit Suisse shares fell 4.2% by 1000 GMT, compared with a 0.7% drop in the Swiss blue chip index and 0.9% drop in the European banking index, following the Reuters report.

“The news, if confirmed, points to potentially more pain than we currently expect,” Jefferies analysts wrote in a research note.

The Jefferies analysts suggested the move could reflect lower earnings than expected or else a backstop plan in case the environment for revenues and costs does not improve as expected in 2023.

A major Credit Suisse shareholder, Harris Associates, said it saw no need for the Swiss bank to raise fresh equity capital.

“Given the strength of their balance sheet today, we agree with the company’s statement that no new equity raise is necessary,” David Herro of Harris Associates told Reuters.

Harris Associates holds a stake of around 5.2%, according to the bank’s https://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us/en/investor-relations/shareholders/significant-shareholders.html website, currently making it the biggest shareholder.

DEBT DOWNGRADES

Credit Suisse is reeling from billions in losses racked up in 2021 via failed investments, plus the impact of multiple legal cases, including a Bermuda court case that could cost around $600 million.

The bank has been trying to reform its risk management culture and also turn the page on a series of scandals, which have prompted several waves of management shake-ups, abrupt departures, and internal and external investigations.

The bank’s shares have fallen by more than a fifth in the past year.

Fitch and Standard & Poor’s both downgraded their debt ratings for Credit Suisse this month.

One of the sources said Swiss financial watchdog FINMA’s annual assessment of big Swiss banks had marked Credit Suisse at 4, unchanged from last year, the lowest possible grade.

One of the watchdog’s main concerns was capitalisation at group level, this source said.

FINMA declined to comment. The deliberations over a capital boost come only a year after the Swiss bank raised around 1.75 billion Swiss francs from investors via mandatory convertible notes.

In April, Credit Suisse had played down the need for fresh capital even as it reported a first-quarter loss that intensified its financial pain.

Credit Suisse executives said at the time capital could remain constrained over the next six months as the bank continues to make significant outlays towards compliance and risk, but a source familiar with the matter said a capital increase was not under consideration at the time.

The bank’s core capital ratio weakened to 13.8% at the end of the first quarter 2022 from 14.4% at the end of 2021.

But a new capital increase would bolster Credit Suisse’s balance sheet and also send a positive signal. If well-known investors provided the bank with new cash, this could be seen as a sign of confidence, one of the sources said.

($1 = 0.9586 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Oliver Hirt; additional reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Jane Merriman)

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Forget breaking the sound barrier: Tom Cruise just flew past a major career milestone.

The 59-year-old superstar just got his first $100 million opening weekend with “Top Gun: Maverick.” In its first three days in North American theaters, the long-in-the-works sequel earned an estimated $124 million in ticket sales, Paramount Pictures said Sunday. Including international showings, its worldwide total is $248 million.

It’s a supersonic start for a film that still has the wide-open skies of Memorial Day itself to rake in even more cash. According to projections and estimates, by Monday’s close, “Top Gun: Maverick” will likely have over $150 million.

“These results are ridiculously, over-the-top fantastic,” said Chris Aronson, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution. “I’m happy for everyone. I’m happy for the company, for Tom, for the filmmakers.”

Though undeniably one of the biggest stars in the world — perhaps even “the last movie star,” according to various headlines — Cruise is not known for massive blockbuster openings.

Before “Maverick,” his biggest domestic debut was in 2005, with Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds,” which opened to $64 million. After that it was “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” with $61 million in 2018. It’s not that his films don’t make money in the long run: They just aren’t enormously frontloaded.

“Top Gun: Maverick” had an extremely long journey to get to the theaters. The sequel to the late Tony Scott’s “Top Gun,” which was released in 1986, was originally slated to open in the summer of 2020. Its marketing campaign technically started back in July 2019. The pandemic got in the way of those plans, however, and it was delayed several times. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and co-produced and co-financed by Skydance, the sequel reportedly cost $152 million to make.

But even as the months, and years, went by and many other companies chose to compromise on hybrid releases, Cruise and Paramount didn’t waver on their desire to have a major theatrical release. A streaming debut was simply not an option.

“That was never going to happen,” Cruise said in Cannes.

And it is major, with 4,735 North American theaters (a record) showing “Top Gun: Maverick.” It also opened in 23,600 locations in 62 international markets.

“This is one of the longest runways for a marketing campaign for any film ever. And it only served to create more excitement around the movie,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “This movie literally waited for the movie theater to come back.”

The build up has been just as flashy, with fighter-jet-adorned premieres on an aircraft carrier in San Diego and at the Cannes Film Festival, where Cruise was also given an honorary Palme d’Or, and a royal premiere in London attended by Prince William and his wife Kate.

“The feeling you get when you watch this film with an audience, it’s pretty special,” Aronson said. “The first big screening we had, there was spontaneous applause during the movie.”

Reviews have been stellar, too, with the film notching a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, who were 58% male, gave it an A+ CinemaScore, according to exit polls.

The new film has Cruise reprising the role of Maverick, who returns to the elite aviation training program to train the next generation of flyers, including Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Monica Barbaro, Greg Tarzan Davis, Danny Ramirez, Lewis Pullman and Jay Ellis. Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm and Val Kilmer, reprising his role from the original, also star.

“This solidifies the notion that the movie theater is a singular and a vitally important outlet for people,” Dergarabedian said. “People are looking for a great escape from everything that’s going on in the world right now.”

“Maverick” is now among the top pandemic era openings, still led by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with $260 million, followed by “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” with $187 million and “The Batman” with $134 million.

Notably, “Top Gun: Maverick” is the only non-superhero movie in the bunch. It also attracted a wide swath of age groups to the theater. An estimated 55% of the audience was over 35.

“Superhero movies aren’t for everybody. This movie is for everyone and that’s what sets it apart,” Aronson said. “The theatrical exhibition business has challenges ahead of it, but this is a shot in the arm for that.”

“The Bob’s Burgers Movie” was the only new release that dared go up against “Top Gun.” Released by 20th Century Studios and Disney, the animated pic earned $12.6 million from 3,425 locations. It opened in third place, behind “Doctor Strange 2,” which earned $16.4 million in its fourth weekend in theaters.

“Top Gun” will continue to essentially have the skies to itself until “Jurassic World: Dominion” opens on June 10.

“It has a really nice, open marketplace to play,” Dergarabedian said. “Tom Cruise has always been about consistency. His movies are about the marathon. This is the first movie of his that is sprinting to big box office numbers. Here, he gets the sprint and the marathon.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.

1. “Top Gun: Maverick,” $124 million.

2. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” $16.4 million.

3. “The Bob’s Burgers Movie,” $12.6 million.

4. “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” $5.9 million.

5. “The Bad Guys,” $4.6 million.

6. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” $2.5 million.

7. “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” $2.5 million.

8. “The Lost City,” $1.8 million.

9. “Men,” $1.2 million.

10. “F3: Fun and Frustration,” $1 million.

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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

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