Tom Cruise’s latest blockbuster “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” is showing strength at the international box office, collecting an impressive $155 million from 70 markets.
Along with an estimated $80 million at the domestic box office, “Mission: Impossible” has grossed $235 million globally through its first five days of release. That’s a mighty worldwide tally, especially for the seventh installment in a 27-year-old action franchise. Imax screens contributed $25 million, including a new franchise-record of $14 million overseas.
The only trouble is the movie, which finds Cruise’s durable hero Ethan Hunt defying death as he flies off a mountain on his motorcycle, scales a runaway train and maneuvers a tiny car through the bustling streets of Rome, was incredibly expensive to make. Due to COVID-related starts and stops and other pandemic-era safety measures, Paramount and Skydance spent $300 million before marketing costs. So even as Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” open on July 21, “Dead Reckoning Part One” needs to continue resonating at the global box office to turn a profit in its theatrical run.
The good news is that “Mission: Impossible” movies have a history of overcoming smaller opening weekends at the box office. In 2018, “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” for example, collected $61 million domestically to start and ended up setting a series record with $791 million globally. Moreover, “Mission” movies tend to earn roughly 70% of overall ticket sales at the international box office. That’ll help offset any trouble at the domestic box office, where “Dead Reckoning” is currently behind initial projections.
“Mission: Impossible 7” fell short of expectations in China with $25.4 million, which is 66% below “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” ($74 million). But elsewhere, the film established new franchise opening weekend records in 35 markets, including the United Kingdom ($13.8 million), India ($9 million), Australia ($8.3 million) and New Zealand ($1.5 million). Other top-earning territories were Korea ($14.3 million), France ($7.7 million) and Taiwan ($7.7 million).
Christopher McQuarrie returned to direct the latest installment, which follows Ethan Hunt and his team at the Impossible Mission Force as they work to take down a mysterious, all-powerful artificial intelligence force known as the Entity. Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Esai Morales, Vanessa Kirby and Pom Klementieff round out the cast.
