Mission Impossible 7 suffers franchise's worst box office drop

For the first time in its storied history, the Mission Impossible franchise has experienced an unexpected and significant downturn in its second weekend box office collections. Mission Impossible 7, the latest addition to the franchise, has unfortunately secured this dubious record.

Launched to the public on July 12, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 garnered stellar reviews, becoming the best-reviewed installment in the saga's tenure. The film's exceptional reviews led to robust revenue, with the Tom Cruise-fronted movie amassing $56.2 million in domestic earnings on its debut weekend and reaching a total of $80 million over the initial five-day launch period.

According to Box Office Pro, this figure marked a 3% hike relative to the franchise's previous high set by 2018's Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Despite this promising start, skeptics questioned the sustained prosperity of the new film.

It was released merely a week ahead of the much-anticipated movies Barbie and Oppenheimer, two titles that were predicted to dominate the box office.

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Disappointing second weekend: Mission Impossible 7 Box Office revenue drops 64%

From boom to bust: MI7's disappointing Box Office decline (Image via Paramount Pictures)

Recent data reveals that Mission Impossible 7 suffered an unparalleled 64% plunge in gross revenue in its second weekend, collecting a disappointing $19.5 million domestically. This figure surpasses the current franchise record for a second-weekend drop, held by Mission Impossible 2, which witnessed a 53.3% decrease during its 2000 theatrical run.

To add to MI7's woes, both Barbie and Oppenheimer enjoyed triumphant openings. The latter, in particular, led to the removal of Mission Impossible from premium format screens, including IMAX, due to an agreement with acclaimed director Christopher Nolan.

The table below displays the Mission Impossible films and their corresponding second-weekend box office drops:

• Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 - 64% (projected)
• Mission: Impossible 2 - -53.3%
• Mission: Impossible - -52.4%
• Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - -48.7%
• Mission: Impossible 3 - -47.6%
• Mission: Impossible - Fallout - -42.3%
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - +131.2% (limited theater count [425] during opening weekend)

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What led to Mission Impossible 7's Box Office fumble?

From hype to hurdles: The journey of MI7's Box Office fumble (Image via Paramount Pictures)

A decrease in second-weekend box office earnings isn't uncommon, especially during the crowded summer season.

However, Paramount, the studio behind Mission Impossible, likely wished for a less dramatic slump, especially after the significant success of Tom Cruise's last film, Top Gun: Maverick.

Paramount might have hoped that Mission Impossible 7 could harness some of the Top Gun momentum, notwithstanding the stiff competition it faced at its release. Several elements could have contributed to the over 50% drop in revenue.

First, the Mission Impossible series generally appeals more to an older audience than other summer blockbusters, limiting its revenue potential from the outset.

While films have overcome this challenge in the past (Oppenheimer is an example), it presents an additional hurdle for MI7, a burden not faced by all of its competitors.

The second major factor was that Mission Impossible 7 was given only a week's run on premium format screens like IMAX. As per an agreement between Christopher Nolan and Universal, the biographical film Oppenheimer was allocated all IMAX screens across North America for three weeks.

Despite Tom Cruise's reported discontent over this arrangement, MI7 was relegated to smaller screens. This meant the movie was limited in its per-screen revenue, especially compared to the pricier IMAX showings.

Mission Impossible 7 continues its run in cinemas worldwide.