SATURDAY PM UPDATE: 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, we hear.
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 $21.3M, 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.
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.
