With Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One opening to a franchise best in Australia, and Barbie and Oppenheimer pre-sales reportedly going gangbusters, the mood among most exhibitors is buoyant.
Paramount’s seventh instalment in the Tom Cruise franchise, which opened in previews Saturday July 8 before officially hitting cinemas last Thursday on 602 screens, stands at $12.2 million so far.
Some $5.7 million of that figure was made last weekend, positioning it as a clear no. 1, earning three times as much as the second placed Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
When the five days of previews are factored in, the result for Dead Reckoning is almost double the 2018 opening of Mission Impossible – Fallout and ahead 2015’s Rogue Nation.
In North America, the film had a five-day opening of $US80 million, which is again, a franchise best. However, its three-day result of $US56 million has been described as lacklustre given the film cost $US300 million to make.
Worldwide numbers are strong at $US235 million. The international box office, excluding China, is $US129.6 million, which is 15 per cent ahead of Mission: Impossible Fallout; another record.
IMAX has made up a significant portion of the worldwide earnings at $US25 million. IMAX Melbourne general manager Richard Morrison tell IF it’s been “delighted” with Dead Reckoning‘s performance so far.
“It’s regrettable that we can’t continue its run due to Oppenheimer opening this Thursday,” he says.
“The focus and commentary by Tom Cruise and the filmmakers on the premium large format experience has helped drive admits and it looks great on the giant screen.”
Overall, Dead Reckoning is expected to have a long life in cinemas, particularly given its audience skews towards an older demo who don’t typically rush out over opening weekends. The film is also generating strong word of mouth; the critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 96 per cent, and the audience score 95 per cent.
Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace saw the film increase 24 per cent on previews across the weekend, with GM Alex Temesvari predicting the film will end up with the best global box office in the franchise.
“It was probably foolish to expect anything similar to Top Gun Maverick which was clearly a once-in-a-lifetime kind of result but I expect Mission to hang around for weeks with healthy holds given the core audience for the film isn’t necessarily an opening weekend kind of crowd and due to the fantastic reviews,” he says.
However, Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell – whose circuit operates in regional NSW and Queensland – notes MI7 is performing better in Sydney and Melbourne than in the regions. At Majestic, despite holding up well, it was beaten by Elemental given the NSW school holidays.
In South Australia, Wallis Cinemas programming manager David Simpson tells IF MI7 was “fairly flat” this weekend following previews.
The only other new release to make the top 10 was Sharmill’s Encore – NT Live: Fleabag 2023. Filmed live on London’s West End, the Phoebe Waller-Bridge play notched $285,980 from just 54 screens to land at no. 9 overall. Sydney’s Orpheum was the best venue for the title nationally.
“It’s literally a phenomenon for us and so wonderful to see our audience so enthusiastically embrace such a high quality piece of alternative programming,” says Temesvari.
Despite limited sessions, Fleabag was also the top ranked title for Melbourne’s Cinema Nova, with many shows sold out.
“Strong presales for Fleabag in addition to renewed interest in Phoebe Waller-Bridge should see the National Theatre re-issue continue to play strongly,” CEO Kristian Connelly tells IF.
The weekend’s new Australian release, French co-production Carmen, starring Paul Mescal and Melissa Barrera, debuted outside the top 20. Madman opened the film on 30 screens to $18,224, and with festival screenings, it stands at $43,436.
While Cinema Nova was among the top sites for the film, Connelly says the debut was softer than expected, particularly given the success the cinema had with Mescal’s award season drama Aftersun.
Overall Numero data puts the top 20 at $14.1 million, down 23 per cent on the previous weekend.
Any downward trend is expected to be short lived, with Thursday’s Barbie and Oppenheimer double drop expected to deliver one of the biggest weekends of the year.
IMAX Melbourne has had already more than 21,000 pre-sales for Oppenheimer due to demand to see the movie on IMAX 1570 film. It is on track to beat the theatre’s largest pre-sale record set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Similarly Temesvari notes both films have “pre-sales through the roof like we’ve almost never seen before”, including sold-out preview events for Barbie and 70mm sessions for Oppenheimer.
“A very exciting time to be in exhibition right now,” he says.
While pre-sales are not usually a strong suit in regional areas, Dell notes pre-sales for Barbie are solid, with Majestic’s opening night events largely sold out and additional cinemas being added at at most sites. Simpson reports a similar situation at Wallis, with almost all ladies night sessions sold out across the circuit.
Of the holdovers, Disney’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny generated $1.8 million in its third, a dip of 43 per cent, advancing to $13.9 million. Right behind was stablemate Elemental, which rang up $1.7 million in its fifth, moving to $14.8 million.
Sony’s Insidious: The Red Door held well across its sophomore weekend, dipping just 34 per cent to $975,081, bringing its total to $3.1 million. Fellow Sony title Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hit $32.4 million in its seventh weekend, with tickets totalling $936,846.
Paramount’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is on $11.7 million after bringing in $824,103 in its fourth frame, while Sony comedy No Hard Feelings, also in its fourth, is on $6.1 million after $493,692.
The Little Mermaid is on $23.1 million for Disney after eight weekends, having added an additional $447,936.
Rounding out the top 10 was Roadshow comedy Joy Ride, which fell 45 per cent in its second frame to $207,461, moving to $753,096.
Local title Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy held well through its second weekend, dropping only 33 per cent to $111,810, coming in at no. 13. So far the Roadshow title has amassed $523,988.
Of the other Australian films in release, John Farnham: Finding the Voice has made $4.5 million after nine weekends for Sony, pocketing an extra $19,299. As IF has reported, it will air on Seven July 24 so theatrical run is drawing to an end.
Roadshow’s Sweet As remains in the top 50, having made $461,876 across seven weekends.