"Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" comes just behind "Mission: Impossible II," which made $549 million back in 2000. In its fifth weekend at the box office, "Dead Reckoning Part One" will fail to crack the top five, effectively marking the beginning of the end of its domestic run.
Some box office enthusiasts think that "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" simply can't be blamed here since the clout "Mission: Impossible" seems to have has been overestimated. Note that "Mission: Impossible" has never been a billion-dollar franchise — 2018's "Fallout," its highest-grossing entry, brought in $786 million, thanks in part to a $180 million+ haul from China. Following the release of "Top Gun: Maverick," which seems to be the exception and not the rule when it comes to Tom Cruise at the box office, many appear to have put too much faith in "Dead Reckoning," a film some believe was always going to disappoint.
"Imagine if there was a 'Top Gun' sequel every several years for the last 3 decades," shared u/biowiz. "There would be no big event appeal for it, which is what is happening with 'Mission Impossible,'" they continued, before reminding fans that spy films tend to only do decently domestically. That's not entirely true, as domestic audiences get behind spy films if they're something truly special — "Fallout" raked in $220 million stateside. The "James Bond" franchise, meanwhile, has only one $300 million domestic grosser, the beloved "Skyfall." In general, spy films do tend to shine in overseas markets, which is exactly what's happening with "Dead Reckoning," whose international receipts account for 70% of its total.
