“Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” the eighth installment of the iconic Tom Cruise franchise, earned strong reviews from fans and critics, who assigned it Rotten Tomatoes scores of 88% and 80%, respectively.
However, “The Final Reckoning” also had a huge budget of an estimated $400 million (including marketing costs), according to THR.
At that price tag, Dergarabedian believes theatrical profitability could be an uphill battle for the newest “Mission: Impossible” movie, considering that it has made just under $550 million a month after its debut — without accounting for theater owners’ cut.
Apple’s big-budget “F1” movie will face a similarly tough road to profitability when it hits theaters this weekend.
While Dergarabedian doesn’t know the details of the studio-theater split for “The Final Reckoning,” he said the film made 70% of its money overseas, which is a promising sign.
“This is in no way a flop,” Dergarabedian said of Cruise’s latest film. “To me, a flop is a movie that is both unprofitable and is not a good movie.”
There are also other ways for “The Final Reckoning” to generate money, like on-demand rentals and leading viewers to Paramount+.
“It’s more about what having this film in theaters means long term for the studio,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s chess — it ain’t checkers.”
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