It was another tsunami of sequels at the North America box office this weekend as Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout lit the fuse with an explosive debut. The news wasn’t as good for the other opener this weekend, Warner’s animated comedy Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, which imploded in a fifth place start.
Overall, the top ten rose seven percent over totals from one year ago when Dunkirk closed out the month of July with $26.6 million in its second weekend.
Age truly is but a number, at least when it comes to actor Tom Cruise and his Mission: Impossible movie franchise. Cruise might be 56 years old and the M:I series may be on its sixth cinematic mission in 22 years, but neither is showing signs of slowing down. One needs to look no further than this weekend’s $61.5 million debut secured by Mission: Impossible – Fallout on 4,386 screens for proof.
The opening for the critically-acclaimed sequel -written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie- surpasses not only the $55 million collected by 2015’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, it also exceeded the $58 million record set by M:I-2 18 years ago – pre-inflation, of course- during the long Memorial Day holiday frame.
Ever since J.J. Abrams stepped in to help turn the franchise around in 2006, the Mission: Impossible films have seen their level of quality rise with each successive chapter, something that film critics have taken notice of. The critical consensus on Fallout was nothing short of euphoric, something almost unheard of for any franchise of this age.
The Rotten Tomatoes score for M:I – Fallout was a near-perfect 97% while the critical consensus on Metacritic was 86/100. The M:I series also scored its first “A” grade from ticket buyers on CinemaScore (previous entries in the series nabbed an “A-“).
With the month of August once again looking like a cinematic wasteland, Fallout should continue to be a top film choice as the summer movie season begins to wind down. A domestic box office north of $200 million is a strong possibility.
Fallout also began its international campaign this weekend with a bang, collecting a huge $92 million. Leading the charge was South Korea, which contributed $24.6 million. Other top markets included the United Kingdom with $9 million and India with $7 million. France, Australia, Germany, Japan and China will open the film over the next few weeks.
Universal’s Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again remained in second place this weekend but sang 57% less than it did in its debut. The ABBA-themed sequel earned an estimated $15 million from 3,514 screens, pushing its total to $70.4 million. The film still has a shot of hitting $100 million by the end of its run. International markets have pocketed $98 million to date.
The arrival of Mission: Impossible – Fallout spelled trouble for last week’s number one film, Sony’s The Equalizer 2. The Denzel Washington sequel tumbled 61% in its second go around on 3,388 screens to earn an estimated $14 million. The ten-day total for Equalizer 2 is $64 million. Equalizer 2 should finish near the $90 million mark, which may or may not be enough for a third chapter.
Another Sony sequel –Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation– laughed its way into fourth place in with an estimated $12.3 million from 4,005 theaters. Down 48%, the hit Adam Sandler cartoon has brought in $119 million so far. Internationally, Summer Vacation has earned $165 million.
Rounding out the top five was Warner’s animated feature Teen Titans Go! To The Movies with a weak $10.5 million from 3,188 theaters. Despite solid reviews, families were still busy handing their ticket money over to Dracula and The Incredibles to bother with the third cartoon offering of the season. On the plus side for the studio, Teen Titans Go! only cost a mere $10 million to produce.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (Marvel/Disney) $8.4 million (-49%); $183 million
- Incredibles 2 (Disney) $7.1 million (-40%); $573 million
- Jurassic World: Forbidden Kingdom (Universal) $6.7 million (-40%); $397.5 million
- Skyscraper (Universal) $5.4 million (-52%); $59 million
- The First Purge (Universal) $2.2 million (-56%); $65.4 million
Next weekend, August gets underway with the debuts of The Darkest Minds, Christopher Robin and The Spy Who Dumped Me. Mission: Impossible – Fallout will remain on Cruise Control in its second weekend at number one.
