The war of the Goliaths is far from over. As Oppenheimer and Barbie arrive at the global theatres, the phenomena have pushed Tom Cruise’s sensational penultimate film from the epic Mission Impossible franchise to the side. With a build-up that resembles a collective craze reminiscent of the days from 2018 and 2019’s Avengers two-part finale, Barbenheimer has caused a global blackout of our awareness regarding anything that is not related to the Nolan x Gerwig films. Apparently, this now includes the recently released Mission Impossible 7 as well.
Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible 7 Takes a Box Office Plunge
With Christopher Nolan and Greta Gerwig both coming to the theatres at the same time, the probability of Mission Impossible 7 keeping pace with its two competitors is very low. Despite the incredible action that Tom Cruise brings to the screens with a cast and crew just as immersed in the entire experience of filmmaking as the leading man, the movie hardly finds the time to showcase itself for a full period on the big screen before the spotlight gets redirected toward the newer releases.
With the arrival of Barbie and Oppenheimer and their eventual box office dominance, the projected earnings of Mission Impossible 7 take a nose dive in its second weekend itself with numbers showing as much as a 62% drop in box office sales as compared to its opening weekend. This accounts for a worse fate than its two predecessors, Rogue Nation and Fallout, both of which recorded a less than 50% drop in their second weekends.
The drastic box office plunge has earned the seventh Cruise Mission a total of $259.7 million worldwide after demonstrating opening weekend numbers amounting to $54.68 million. This makes the film’s current global earnings $140 million less than the worst Mission Impossible film of the franchise (Mission: Impossible III earned $399 million worldwide). With a production budget of $290 million, MI7 has a long way to go before it can break even, let alone rake in profits.
Is Oppenheimer To Blame For Tom Cruise’s Box Office Loss?
Despite the competition being a cut-throat one, the box office rivalry between Tom Cruise’s film and the Christopher Nolan historical war drama is a non-hostile one. However, the audience has been increasingly flocking to the theatres to witness what could prove to be a definitive moment in the history of cinema, the attention garnered by Oppenheimer tends to subdue the attraction of yet another spy action-adventure film for the audience’s disparate tastes.
Also read: Oppenheimer Review: Nolan’s Magnum Opus
On the other hand, the dominance over possession of the IMAX screens has become a somewhat ill-fitted pawn in the entire argument regarding Tom Cruise’s film. Mission Impossible‘s vision, despite needing an IMAX-worthy experience, cannot hold up against Christopher Nolan’s known use of IMAX cameras and 70mm reels to film his gravity-defying films.
Moreover, the British-American filmmaker’s oeuvre, which includes films like Memento, Interstellar, Inception, and Dunkirk stands out as an example of Christopher Nolan’s sheer directorial brilliance. It is hardly a debate over whether the next film, which is decisively being called his magnum opus, is being suspected of stealing any of its box office competitor’s thunder.
Oppenheimer, Barbie, and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One are currently playing in theatres worldwide.
Source: Twitter | The Hollywood Handle
