17-7-2023 (LOS ANGELES) After a highly-publicized promotional campaign led by star Tom Cruise, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One debuted with an impressive global box office haul of $235 million. However, the film fell shy of industry projections in its domestic market, raking in $56.2 million over the three-day weekend, below expectations, according to studio estimates.
Paramount Pictures’ latest installment in the 27-year-old franchise exceeded expectations in international markets, amassing $155 million from 70 territories. This boosted the film’s overall performance, marking one of the year’s strongest worldwide openings. Nevertheless, Dead Reckoning couldn’t match the rapid pace set by last summer’s blockbuster hit, Top Gun: Maverick.
Industry forecasts had anticipated Dead Reckoning Part One to surpass the previous franchise high of Fallout, which opened domestically with $61 million in 2018. However, the film also fell short of the $57.8 million debut of Mission: Impossible II back in 2000.
The opening weekend figures for Dead Reckoning were comparable to the lackluster launch of Disney’s Indiana Jones And The Dial of Destiny, which premiered with $82 million over five days and $60 million over the three-day weekend. Paramount and Skydance had higher hopes for the action-packed spectacle of Dead Reckoning, which had a production budget of $290 million, excluding marketing expenses.
The film’s budget was inflated, in part, due to the challenges posed by the pandemic. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, Dead Reckoning was one of the first major productions halted by COVID-19, with initial plans to shoot in Italy in March 2020. Eventually, McQuarrie and Cruise played instrumental roles in spearheading the industry-wide return to film sets, although their efforts were not without publicized disagreements over safety protocols along the way.
Nonetheless, Dead Reckoning has been hailed as a standout entry in the franchise. It has garnered praise from critics (earning a 96 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and resonated with audiences (earning an “A” CinemaScore). The film’s breathtaking stunts and thrilling chase sequences left viewers in awe. Despite the upcoming competition from “Barbenheimer,” the highly-anticipated releases of Barbie and Oppenheimer, Mission: Impossible is expected to maintain a strong performance in the coming weeks.
“This is a global franchise. It’s performing incredibly well, and it will continue to play for a long time. Quality always prevails in the end,” commented Chris Aronson, Paramount’s distribution chief.
Aronson stated that Dead Reckoning either met or exceeded the studio’s expectations.
“In international markets, when comparing like-for-like territories, we are 15 percent ahead of Fallout, and that’s without accounting for China,” Aronson added. “Domestically, we are over 3 percent ahead of Fallout for the first five days. To surpass its predecessor is remarkable, especially in this challenging environment.”
Tom Cruise, regarded as the savior of movie theaters during the pandemic, embarked on an extensive publicity tour to revive the summer box office, which has seen sluggish returns. Alongside McQuarrie, Cruise made surprise appearances at theaters in Atlanta, Miami, Toronto, and Washington DC in the days leading up to the film’s release, following a grand world premiere in Rome at the iconic Spanish Steps.
Dead Reckoning hit theaters during a pivotal mid-summer period for Hollywood, coinciding with the SAG-AFTRA strike that commenced on July 13. The film launched a week before a major box office showdown, as it shared screens with Oppenheimer. However, both films publicly endorsed the idea that successful performances by any blockbuster would benefit the industry as a whole. Cruise and McQuarrie even purchased opening-weekend tickets for both Barbie and Oppenheimer, and the directors of those films, Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan, reciprocated the support.
The box office performances of these three films in the coming weeks will play a significant role in shaping the summer box office landscape.
“These next few weeks are crucial for the industry,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore. “It’s going to be an exciting revitalization of the box office since we’ve seen a few underperforming films. Truly, the summer movie season restarts this week with Mission leading into ‘Barbenheimer.'”
No other wide release posed a significant challenge to Mission: Impossible over the weekend. Angel Studios’ faith-based political thriller Sound Of Freedom claimed second place, increasing 37 percent in its second week with $27 million. The drama, starring Jim Caveziel, revolves around the issue of child trafficking.
Last week’s top film, Insidious: The Red Door, slid to third place with $13 million in its second weekend, while Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny experienced a rapid decline, earning $12 million in its third weekend. To date, the film has generated a domestic total of $145.4 million.
In limited release, Searchlight Pictures’ mockumentary Theater Camp opened in six theaters across New York and Los Angeles, amassing $270,000.
