LOS ANGELES -- A sequel to a sequel to a sequel. An action star five years older than Wilford Brimley was when he made the retiree-focused Cocoon. A down-on-its-luck studio written off as a major player by much of Hollywood.
Mission: Impossible -- Fallout, starring Tom Cruise, 56, and made by Paramount Pictures, could have easily turned into a sad commentary on the state of moviedom in the age of Marvel and Netflix. Instead, Fallout arrived as a cultural thunderclap, receiving joyous reviews from critics, stirring lively ticket-buyer conversation online and taking in a stout $61.2 million over its first three days in North American theaters.
Overseas, Fallout collected an additional $92 million.
"I'm seeing the numbers come in from around the world, and they're just fantastic," said Jim Gianopulos, who took over as Paramount's chairman last year. He credited Cruise, who did his own stunts, and Christopher McQuarrie, who directed and wrote Fallout. "It's a mature franchise, but they have kept it incredibly fresh," Gianopulos said.
The 22-year-old Mission: Impossible film series, which is based on the 52-year-old TV show, does not have the same financial power it once did. In 2000, Mission: Impossible II collected $86.3 million in initial domestic ticket sales, after adjusting for inflation. And profitability for Fallout is still a long way off. The film cost Paramount and its financing partners, including David Ellison's Skydance Media, roughly $320 million to make and market worldwide.
The reception for Fallout was impressive nonetheless, improving on opening-weekend ticket sales for its 2015 predecessor, Rogue Nation, even after adjusting for inflation.
Paramount is still in last place among Hollywood's six biggest movie studios in terms of domestic market share, but Gianopulos has returned Paramount to modest profitability. He has also pushed ahead long-gestating movies like Top Gun: Maverick, which stars Cruise in a return to his role from the 1986 original and is scheduled for release in July 2019.
"You're always just a few good movies from turning things around," Gianopulos said.
Many cinephiles bemoan sequels, but the masses still seem avid for them. Sequels have been No. 1 for the last seven weekends running: Fallout, Hotel Transylvania 3, The Equalizer 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which placed first twice.
At the same time, originals such as Life of the Party, starring Melissa McCarthy, and Skyscraper, starring Dwayne Johnson, have fizzled. (Skyscraper has made up ground in China, where it has taken in $85.3 million.)
For the weekend in North America, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Universal) was second, taking in about $15 million, for a two-week total of $70.5 million, according to comScore, which compiles box-office data. The Equalizer 2 (Columbia) collected $14 million, lifting its two-week total to $64.2 million.
Besides Fallout, the only film to arrive in wide release over the weekend was Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, a low-budget animated movie that took in $10.4 million, continuing a quiet summer for Warner Bros.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:
Mission: Impossible -- Fallout, Paramount, $61,236,534, 4,386 locations, $13,962 average, $61,236,534, 1 week.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Universal, $15,100,095, 3,514 locations, $4,297 average, $70,524,620, 2 weeks.
The Equalizer 2, Columbia, $14,020,017, 3,388 locations, $4,138 average, $64,251,362, 2 weeks.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Columbia, $12,253,640, 4,005 locations, $3,060 average, $119,177,141, 3 weeks.
Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, Warner Bros., $10,411,189, 3,188 locations, $3,266 average, $10,411,189, 1 week.
Ant-Man and the Wasp, Disney, $8,766,100, 3,013 locations, $2,909 average, $183,490,227, 4 weeks.
Incredibles 2, Disney, $7,257,113, 2,616 locations, $2,774 average, $572,880,761, 7 weeks.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Universal, $6,729,735, 2,685 locations, $2,506 average, $397,508,235, 6 weeks.
Skyscraper, Universal, $5,341,455, 2,773 locations, $1,926 average, $59,091,215, 3 weeks.
The First Purge, Universal, $2,215,400, 1,400 locations, $1,582 average, $65,469,275, 4 weeks.
Unfriended: Dark Web, OTL Releasing, $1,470,910, 1,547 locations, $951 average, $7,364,340, 2 weeks.
Sorry to Bother You, Annapurna Pictures, $1,373,791, 802 locations, $1,713 average, $13,275,212, 4 weeks.
Blindspotting, Lionsgate, $1,281,548, 523 locations, $2,450 average, $1,750,532, 2 weeks.
Eighth Grade, A24, $1,269,046, 158 locations, $8,032 average, $2,917,883, 3 weeks.
Three Identical Strangers, Neon Rated, $1,196,412, 433 locations, $2,763 average, $6,696,733, 5 weeks.
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Focus Features, $704,445, 464 locations, $1,518 average, $20,048,382, 8 weeks.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Columbia, $675,691, 574 locations, $1,177 average, $48,726,565, 5 weeks.
Ocean's 8, Warner Bros., $635,839, 518 locations, $1,227 average, $137,293,754, 8 weeks.
Uncle Drew, Lionsgate, $483,789, 532 locations, $909 average, $41,375,460, 5 weeks.
Leave No Trace, Bleecker Street, $470,622, 291 locations, $1,617 average, $4,647,620, 5 weeks.
MovieStyle on 08/03/2018