SUNDAY AM WRITETHRU — after Saturday PM update…refresh for chart and more analysis Facts are facts, and Paramount/Skydance’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One set a 5-day opening domestic record for the franchise with $80M.
Previous best 5-day opening belonged to 2000’s Mission: Impossible II which cleared a Wednesday-Sunday take over Memorial Day weekend of $78.8M. The 3-day record still belongs to 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout which posted $61.2M. Dead Reckoning looks to be coming in at $56.2M at 4,327 theaters, including Imax and PLF auditoriums. Dead Reckoning reps Oscar winning filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie’s third time directing a Mission movie after 2015’s Rogue Nation and Fallout. Technically, he has four Mission movies under his belt as he’s also directing Dead Reckoning Part Two. That movie had to pause recently due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
As we already told you, even though Dead Reckoning‘s 5-day is in the vicinity of older leaning Disney/Lucasfilm finale Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Friday-Tuesday of $83.8M), a film we declared as a complete box office upset in regards to its $300M production cost), this Mission: Impossible sequel is a different beast as it has great reviews (96% certified fresh) and excellent audience scores with an A CinemaScore and 5 Stars Posttrak to leg it out, especially overseas. Dial of Destiny doesn’t have that momentum. Nancy will have more in the AM, but a global launch here of $200M+ for Dead Reckoning isn’t out of the realm of possibility. In like-for-likes and at today’s rates with previews, Mission: Impossible – Fallout debuted to a $247.8M WW global start; again with a hefty China start of $74M. Currently, in early figures, we’re seeing $22M+ for Dead Reckoning in China.
Proof that good word of mouth is working for Dead Reckoning: Remember how we were scared that the sequel wouldn’t deliver greatly with a $15.5M opening day (plus previews)? How rivals estimated the sequel at a $70M 5-day? Well, here’s Dead Reckoning coming in much higher.
Saturday was $21.4M, repping a 28% spike over Friday’s $16.7M. Sunday is figured at a -15% ease with $18.1M. Despite that wild $90M projection, Dead Reckoning wound up performing just a like a Tom Cruise Mission movie would.
While the Dead Reckoning campaign kicked off in May 2022 with teaser trailer on Top Gun: Maverick, and another behind-the-scenes featurette about Cruise’s biggest stunt in the film, the Norway Ramp Jump (in Imax tagged onto Avatar: The Way of Water), exhibitors actually got to see the latter as early as August 2021 at the first return-to-in-person CinemaCon.
The second trailer debuted in May with a spot in the NBA Playoffs, and synergistically across Paramount Global channels.
Five additional featurettes showcased the stunts and scope of the film, including the Rome car chase, Cruise’s speed flying and train stunts, McQuarrie’s filmmaking in Venice and Abu Dhabi.
Paramount held the Dead Reckoning at the Spanish Steps in Rome, which stars in the film; the first time a global movie premiere to take place there. Cruise then went on to tour the film in London, Abu Dhabi, Seoul, Sydney, and New York with Japan set to come later this month. Cruise and McQuarrie also showed up with the film for fans in Toronto, Washington D.C., Atlanta and Miami.
Promo partners on Dead Reckoning included Fiat, which created a bespoke TV campaign which featured the Rome car chase sequence in the film while showcasing the new Fiat Abarth electric car.
Etihad’s global campaign included a Mission: Impossible branded plane with routes between Abu Dhabi and key destinations around the world. Etihad also had paid marketing support with a behind-the-scenes content piece highlighting Abu Dhabi, an action-packed 30-second ad campaign, a targeted online stunt with Man City football club, and a skydive stunt with an orchestra playing the franchise theme song.
Reportedly, Dead Reckoning garnered the largest Paramount synergy support ever for a theatrical release, with a 30 minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie on CBS. The special also included additional placement on Paramount+, MTV, Paramount Network, CBS affiliates, and Channel 10 in Australia. Support also included a primetime roadblock to support the trailer, and a full Mission week on CBS Mornings including interviews with the cast in addition to trailer and premiere coverage. The newly acquired podcast “Light the Fuse—The Official Mission: Impossible Podcast” hosted a live podcast taping with cast and filmmakers.
The digital marketing for the sequel included a Twitter “Join the Mission” and Chatbot activation. Khaby Lame, a notable TikToker with a reach of over 240M, created custom Mission: Impossible content for both TikTok and Instagram. Paramount launched a TikTok account focused on Tom Cruise’s greatest stunts. TikTok entered a first-of-its-kind global creator partnership for the pic which included localized content pages, creator collaborations using talent from around the world at each of the global premieres, a branded mission, live event with talent, and push notifications to its 1 billion monthly users.
Outdoor placement for the sequel included stunt barricades, train wraps and murals. An aerial fly over program launched in 10 markets for Fourth of July weekend, prompting fans to text to win a hometown screening.
TV spots aired on such global sporting events as the UEFA Champions League, CONCACAF Gold Cup, MotoGP, F1 Silverstone, and the NBA Finals.
Also faring well here is Angels Studios’ anti-child trafficking thriller Sound of Freedom which is shaping up for an estimated $24.7M second weekend in second place, up a hu-mungo 26% (when does that ever happen?) for a running total of $83.2M at 3,265 theaters. This Jim Caviezel movie is going well north of $100M.
On the specialty side, Sony Pictures Classics had The Miracle Club starring Laura Linney, Kathy Bates, and Maggie Smith. The 68% fresh Rotten Tomatoes reviewed movie posted $680K from 678 theaters for a $1k theater average.
Searchlight opened their $8M Sundance pick-up, Theater Camp, from filmmakers Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman. The Erik Feig produced feature is posting an estimated $287K opening from 6 theaters or a $47K theater average. That’s the fourth best opening theater average for 2023 after Asteroid City ($142K), Beau Is Afraid ($80K) and Past Lives ($58K), and a great sign indie moviegoing is coming back. The comedy is 80% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Theater Camp was happening at AMC LSQ, Alamo Brooklyn, Angelika, AMC Grove, AMC Burbank & AMC Century City in NYC and LA. Solid numbers with Q&As in the NYC bookings. AMC Lincoln Square was big with $30K on Friday.
Next week, it’s a brawl between Barbie and Oppenheimer, an overall frame that some are predicting hits $200M for all movies.
