Wall-to-wall national TV advertising in NBA playoffs -- and other major TV content -- helped rocket Paramount Pictures’s “Top Gun: Maverick” to the franchise’s best-ever opening weekend for the Memorial Day weekend.

The latest edition of the movie, starringTom Cruise, landed the franchise with its biggest ever U.S. domestic opening -- an estimated $126.7 million for three days (May 27-29) of the weekend and $156 million for the four-day period (May 27-30), according to Comscore.

The film was also Cruise’s biggest opening weekend ever -- and the first time he starred in a film opening with more than $100 million at the box office.

Over the most recent two-week period, the movie pulled in 644.9 million national TV impressions -- coming from an estimated $6.1 million, according to iSpot.tv. The TV measurement company estimates the studio spent a total of $17.2 million in national TV advertising on the film.

The movie’s national TV advertising campaign actually started nearly three years ago in August 2019 -- as a result of multiple delays, including new filming and re-shoots of scenes as well as being affected by pandemic disruptions.

Over the past 30 days -- in addition to high spending on NBA Basketball TNT (62 airings) and ESPN (184 airings), the studio placed major airings on MTV (214), MTV Live (344), Nick@Nite (245), Comedy Central (236), VH1 (216), Paramount Network (168), POP (162), Adult Swim (158), FX (171), TBS (111), Telemundo (70) and Univision (69).

In terms of estimated national TV spend for the last month: TNT got $2.6 million of the movie’s estimated spend, with ESPN at $1.6 million and ABC at $1.0 million.

The movie also benefited from co-marketing national TV campaigns. Applebee’s spent an estimated $4.3 million from two different commercial activations, which was part of a broader marketing deal with the movie. In addition, Porsche was a branded partner for the movie, spending an estimated $1.2 million, according to iSpot.tv.

There were also a number of co-TV network promotions to boost awareness -- on CBS, FX, and MTV. The national marketing campaign also include a partnership with YouTube to livestream the world premiere event for the theatrical release of the movie

Coming in second for the Memorial day weekend (May 27-29) was Walt Disney’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($16.4 million), in its fourth week; 20th Century Studios’ “The Bob’s Burger Movie” ($12.6 million), for its opening weekend; Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey: A New Era” was at $5.9 million in its second weekend; and Universal Pictures’s “The Bad Guys” was at $4.6 million, now in its sixth week.