Tom Cruise raises ‘Dead Reckoning’ to $80M
Paramount Pictures’ “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” opened at the top of the domestic box office last week, amassing $80 million during its first five days, according to studio estimates.
The seventh installment in the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, which opened July 12, came in shy of pre-release expectations. Early studio projections indicated that the big-budget action thriller would open with about $90 million.
Internationally, the film has earned $155 million for a worldwide total of $235 million.
With an estimated production budget of nearly $300 million, the film has a long way to go before becoming profitable. Enthusiastic reviews from critics and positive responses from audience surveys indicate that the movie could play well throughout the summer.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, “Dead Reckoning” stars Tom Cruise as international super-spy Ethan Hunt on yet another daring quest to save humanity. Among the supporting cast of the feature are Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales and Pom Klementieff.
The latest chapter of the “Mission: Impossible” saga scored a glowing 96% fresh rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and an A grade from audiences polled by CinemaScore.
“Cruise … once again suffers for our pleasure like no one else, hurling himself and his motorcycle from great heights, fighting in claustrophobically tight spaces and, yes, running and running and running some more,” writes Times film critic Justin Chang in his review.
“For all that, he knows how to temper his usual superhuman self-seriousness with lightness and wit. He’s even gracious enough to cede some of the spotlight to his co-stars this time around, spending a fair chunk of the movie’s endgame amusingly on the sidelines.”
Analysts that track moviegoer interest and use complex formulas to forecast ticket sales had predicted that “Dead Reckoning” would generate about $250 million worldwide over its first five days. “The industry was looking for bigger here,” said David Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter on box office numbers.
“This opening is roughly average for an action thriller at this point in its series,” Gross said about the ultraexpensive “Dead Reckoning.” “Of course, there’s nothing average about this film.”
“These are a crucial couple of weeks for the industry [which started last] 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 [restarted last] week with ‘Mission’ leading into ‘Barbenheimer.’”
Last week’s top film, “Insidious: The Red Door ” slid to third with $13 million in its second weekend. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is dropping quickly with $12 million its third weekend, with a domestical total so far of $145.4 million.
Rounding out the top four at the domestic box office last weekend were Angel Studios’ “Sound of Freedom,” which added $27 million in its sophomore outing for a North American cumulative tally of $85.5 million.
In limited release, the Searchlight Pictures’ mockumentary “Theater Camp” opened to $270,000 from six theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
This weekend, get ready for the ultimate summer movie showdown as Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” squares off against Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer” in wide release.
In the coming weeks, studios such as Universal, Columbia and Disney have movies set for release that will have to do without the promotional star power of Denzel Washington (“The Equalizer 3”), Owen Wilson and Tiffany Haddish (“Haunted Mansion”), and Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx (“Strays”). The SAG-AFTRA actors last week joined the already-striking WGA writers on the picket lines.