Mission: Impossible 7 fails to break out

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One poster

Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One still has weeks for its theatrical run. But it appears the seventh installment of the Tom Cruise series will struggle to go beyond the core M:I audience.

As of Aug. 7, almost a month after its theatrical debut, its global box office was almost $494 million, with a U.S. box office of $151.2 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

That compares with $791.2 million globally and $220.2 million U.S. for 2018’s Mission: Impossible Fallout and $682.7 million globally and $195 million U.S. for 2015’s Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation.

The newest M:I movie scored a lot of positive reviews and high audience scores, according to the Rotten Tomatoes website.

Expectations had been higher, especially after Cruise’s Tom Gun Maverick in 2022 had a global box office of almost $1.5 billion.

There has been a lot of second-guessing about studio Paramount’s M:I release strategy. The new Mission: Impossible movie didn’t have a lot of time at premium-priced IMAX screens before Barbie and Oppenheimer arrived at theaters.

To be clear, $500 million (that the movie is approaching) is hardly a flop. There is still a market for Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible films. But COVID-related delays sent M:I 7’s budget toward $300 million, more than previous entries. If the movie turns a profit, it likely will be from post-theatrical revenue.

Over the weekend, Variety published an article questioning whether the M:I series needs to reel back its action sequences. Fans objected on social media, citing the release date issues.

Regardless, there isn’t time to recalibrate. M:I 8 is mostly filmed in anticipation of a 2024 release. As usual, we’ll see.