Is saving the 2023 summer box office an impossible mission?
The Hollywood film industry is facing up to its first double acting/writing strike in 63 years, but there's still some unfinished business this month in salvaging what has been a disappointing summer at the box office.
This weekend, it's "next savior up" as Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One (NASDAQ:PARA) (PARAA) look to make a splash, even as the eighth Mission: Impossible film (Dead Reckoning Part Two) has now shuttered production amid the strike, endangering a summer 2024 release plan.
After gaining $15.5M on its Wednesday opening day, M:I -- Dead Reckoning Part One is setting up for a five-day weekend total of at least $90M. That wouldn't only serve as the best opening in Cruise's seven-film series, it would also mark the best summer opening since June 2 brought animated hit Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (SONY), which opened to $120.7M and has become the year's second-biggest domestic film.
It would be noticeably better than some recent high-profile contenders: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (DIS) opened to just $60.4M; Elemental (DIS) just $29.6M; and The Flash (NASDAQ:WBD) ended up as a high-stakes bomb against expectations with an opening of just $55M.
The new M:I also has a friendly lead face in box-office champion Cruise, who's also been stumping for filmgoers to see rival films at the theater this summer. His film gets a bit more than a week's head start against the other two "last hopes" of the summer: July 21 brings atomic-bomb creation story Oppenheimer (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and candy-colored toy-based movie Barbie (WBD), a release that doll maker Mattel (MAT) will be watching eagerly.
Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC); Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWQ); Cinemark (CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (CGX:CA); National CineMedia (NCMI).
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