'Mission: Impossible' Cruises to a Box-Office Win
by EG
If there was any doubt over whether Tom Cruise could still generate big box-office results, Mission: Impossible - Fallout laid them to rest. Not only did the franchise installment win the weekend, it took in more than any other Mission: Impossible film earned in its first weekend. Read on for the numbers.
The latest Mission: Impossible movie pulled off plenty of stunts in its box-office debut over the weekend — and not just the ones featuring its 56-year-old star, Tom Cruise, skyping from perilous heights or bounding across buildings.
Buoyed by glowing reviews and an A CinemaScore, Paramount and Skydance's Mission: Impossible — Fallout opened to $61.5 million from 4,306 theaters in North America, a franchise-high and the second-best of Cruise's career behind 2005's War of the Worlds ($64.9 million), not adjusted for inflation. That's no small feat, considering it is the sixth outing in the action-spy series.
The film also posted huge numbers overseas, earning $92 million from its first 36 markets — or only 40 percent of the foreign marketplace — for a series-high global bow of $153.5 million, including $12.5 million from Imax theaters and led by South Korea with a huge $24.5 million. And that's without China, where the pic doesn't open until Aug. 31.
Fallout is a major win for the Viacom-owned Paramount and is the first Mission: Impossible movie to be made and released during studio chief Jim Gianopulos' tenure. It is also a testament to Cruise's continued star power around the globe.
"Tom Cruise has proven time and time again that when it comes to action, he is one of the most dependable stars out there. We've had all these big visual-effect driven summer movies. Now comes along a movie where the actor and director are putting it all on the line with real stunts. It provides raw and visceral entertainment that people are excited about," says Paramount domestic distribution chief Kyle Davies.
Until Fallout, Mission: Impossible II ($57.8 million) boasted the series' top domestic opening, a record the sequel had held since 2000, not adjusted for inflation. The last installment, Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015), was next up with a domestic debut of $55.5 million in late July 2015. So far, Fallout is pacing 11 percent ahead of Rogue Nation domestically, and 19 percent ahead internationally.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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