After a globe-trotting publicity blitz by star Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One launched with a franchise-best US$80 million (S$105.7 million) over five days, though it came in shy of industry expectations with a US$56.2 million haul over the three-day weekend, according to studio estimates.
The Paramount Pictures debut was boosted by strong overseas sales of US$155 million from 70 markets. But while a US$235 million worldwide launch marked one of the best global openings of the year, Dead Reckoning couldn’t approach the high-speed velocity of last summer’s top film, Top Gun: Maverick.
Dead Reckoning Part One, the seventh film in the 27-year-old series, had been forecast to better the franchise high of the previous installment, Fallout, which opened with US$61 million domestically in 2018. Instead, it also fell short of the US$57.8 million Mission: Impossible II debuted with in 2000.
That puts the film's opening-weekend tally very close to the tepid launch of Disney's Indiana Jones And The Dial of Destiny, which opened in US and Canadian theatres with US$82 million over five days and US$60 million over the three-day weekend. Paramount and Skydance had higher hopes for the action extravaganza of Dead Reckoning, which cost US$290 million to make, not counting marketing expenses.
Those costs were inflated, in part, by the pandemic. Dead Reckoning, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, was among the first major productions shut down by COVID-19. It was preparing to shoot in Italy in March 2020. When the film got back on track, McQuarrie and Cruise helped lead the industry-wide recovery back to film sets – albeit with some well-publicised friction over protocols along the way.
Still, Dead Reckoning was hailed as a high point in the franchise. Critics (96 per cent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and fans (an “A” CinemaScore) alike came away awed by the stunts and chases of the latest Mission: Impossible film. Though the coming competition of “Barbenheimer” – the much-anticipated debuts of Barbie and Oppenheimer – looms, Mission: Impossible should play well for weeks to come.
"This is a global franchise. It's going gangbusters and its going to play for a long time. Quality always wins in the end," said Chris Aronson, distribution chief for Paramount.
Dead Reckoning, Aronson said, met or exceeded the studio's expectations.
“In international markets, in like-for-like markets, we're 15 per cent ahead of Fallout, and that's taking China out," added Aronson. “Domestically, we're over 3 per cent ahead of Fallout for the first five days. To beat its predecessor is phenomenal, especially in this environment.”
Cruise, the so-called saviour of movie theatres last year, traveled tirelessly to again pump life back into a summer box office that’s been sluggish. After a splashy world premiere in Rome with a red-carpet on the Spanish Steps, Cruise and McQuarrie surprised theatres in Atlanta, Miami, Toronto and Washington DC in the days ahead of opening.
Dead Reckoning hit theatres at a crucial mid-summer period for Hollywood, and not just because of the SAG-AFTRA strike which began Thursday (Jul 13). Mission: Impossible launched a week before one of the biggest box-office showdowns of the year.
Though Dead Reckoning and Oppenheimer have vied for some of the same IMAX screens, each film has publicly endorsed the idea that a rising tide lifts all blockbusters. Cruise and McQuarrie in early July even bought opening-weekend tickets to both Barbie and Oppenheimer. Barbie director Greta Gerwig and Oppenheimer filmmaker Christopher Nolan reciprocated with their own gestures of support.
However that trio of films performs over the next few weeks will do a lot to determine the fate of the summer box office.
“These are a crucial couple of weeks for the industry starting this weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore. “I think it's going to be a fun reinvigoration of the box office because we have had a few films underperforming. Really, the summer movie season restarts this week with Mission leading into ‘Barbenheimer.’”
No other new wide release challenged Mission: Impossible over the weekend. Second place went to Angel Studios’ faith-based political thriller Sound Of Freedom which increased 37 per cent in its second week with US$27 million. Jim Caveziel stars in the child trafficking drama.
Last week's top film, Insidious: The Red Door slid to third with US$13 million in its second weekend. Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny is dropping quickly with US$12 million its third weekend, with a domestic total so far of US$145.4 million.
In limited release, the Searchlight Pictures' mockumentary Theater Camp opened to US$270,000 from six theatres in New York and Los Angeles.