Paramount reports this Saturday morning that Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One earned $16.55 million on Friday, bringing its three-day domestic cume to $40.35 million. The studio’s projected three-day weekend (Friday through Sunday) is $54.2 million, for a five-day total of $78 million.
While those numbers may rise slightly higher, due to strong audience reception (94 percent) and critic scores (96 percent) on Rotten Tomatoes, combined with the natural weekend friendliness of two hours and forty-three minutes. film, the overall gross will continue to fall short of projections and the studio’s $90 million expectation for the five-day opening week.
domestically, By calculating‘s results continue an unfortunate trend in the wake of Flash AND Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. This marks three consecutive films aimed at grown men that have each failed to realize their full potential, despite being generally positive (and totally strong, IN MISSION‘s case) reception.
A host of factors can be blamed, each as controversial as the next:
- A gap of five years between MISSION films have kept the franchise out of the public consciousness after a three-film revival in a seven-year span between 2011 and 2018.
- The timing of the film’s release and the title “Part One” can be cited as deterrents that mitigate the film’s supposed event status, especially in the wake of Cruise’s box office phenomenon in Top Gun: Maverick last year, which still doesn’t seem to have helped the franchise the way many expected.
- e MISSION the franchise may simply have aged to a point where the target audience share of the modern film base is shrinking as younger generations grow up and drive the box office.
- The relative lack of premium screens could reduce the movie’s initial business as consumers seek out prime spots in IMAX, Dolby and the like. This can become a long term issue when By calculating lose those screens for it Oppenheimer and other films in the coming weeks.
- This summer has seen studios cram a lot of movies for adult male audiences into a tight space starting with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in June, leading to Transformers: Rise of the Beaststhe aforementioned Flash AND Indiana Jonesand the future Oppenheimer — which is currently passing all of the above (except Spider string) and MISSION itself, in pre-sale. At this point it’s hard to argue against some cannibalization.
- Although less important for new films, the inability of actors and filmmakers to promote films such as MISSION This summer, due to the ongoing writers’ strike, it can also be partially blamed, as older segments of media, such as late night talk shows, have not been part of the usual marketing cycle.
This is not necessarily a definitive breakdown of the reasons why MISSION it’s the latest film subject to industry expectations and long-range pursuit, but it’s a starting point to digest as we now see how the film’s legs perform. Historically, the franchise burns a long fuse. The hope is that it will be true again, even against it Oppenheimer and the future BarbieABLE By calculatingStrong reception so far.
On the international front, seventh Impossible chapter added $25.8 million on Friday from 70 markets. This brings the figure abroad to $82.1 million. Notable markets include China ($7.4M opening day Friday) and UK ($7.2M total with $2.1M Friday).
The studio will provide an updated global projection on Sunday.
Meanwhile, back on the domestic front, Angel Studios’ The Sound of Freedom continues to impress with another $7.04 million estimated on Friday. That figure and a projected second weekend of $23.09 million are provided via industry sources outside of Angel. A stronger than forecast second place is on the cards for the weekend.
Rounding out the top five yesterday:
- Secret: The Red Door added $4.15 million for an eight-day cume of $49.2 million. It’s looking at a studio-estimated second frame of $12.65 million.
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny earned $3.3 million for an updated tally of $136.66 million while it looks to come in around $12 million this weekend.
- BaSiC took in another $2.52 million, bringing it to $119.2 million. It should pull in about $8.3 million for the frame.
Updated studio estimates will follow on Sunday, followed by facts on Monday.
