Oppenheimer's IMAX Run Extended, Leaving Mission: Impossible Out In The Cold
After just 10 days in theaters, the domestic box office total for Christopher Nolan's biographical thriller "Oppenheimer" has surpassed that of "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One," which has been out for 19 days. This weekend saw the latest entry in the long-running Tom Cruise-led action series lose 1,130 screens as theaters packed their schedules with showings of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" (or, to use their couple name, Barbenheimer). And Sunday brought more bad news for "Mission: Impossible" when it comes to the screens that matter the most.
As previously reported, Universal Pictures secured a three-week exclusive run for "Oppenheimer" on IMAX screens. Nolan's film was shot entirely on large format film stock with IMAX cameras, and the director is a vocal champion of the format, so it was a natural partnership. But it also meant that "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" would be kicked off IMAX screens entirely after just one week.
While Paramount Pictures may have been hoping that "Mission: Impossible" would get some IMAX screens back at the end of the three-week exclusive — and with them, the lucrative price points of PLF (premium large format) tickets — Ethan Hunt will have to stay regular-sized for now. IMAX has released a short statement announcing that, due to popular demand, the run for "Oppenheimer" is being extended:
In light of its extraordinary performance, IMAX is extending OPPENHEIMER's run an additional week through August 16/17, with plans to bring back IMAX showtimes of OPPENHEIMER in the late summer/fall, as availability permits.
You can't fight the friction
Though "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One" was shot for IMAX on IMAX-certified cameras, it wasn't shot on 65mm film and there are no parts of the movie that scale up to the true IMAX ratio of 1.43:1. That's not to say that IMAX was entirely uninterested in the movie; as you can see above, "Dead Reckoning" got its own special poster, and IMAX's head of post-production, Bruce Markoe, told Forbes, "We wanted to play both movies as much as we could because Mission is going to be a great picture in IMAX." According to Markoe, IMAX suggested moving the release date for "Dead Reckoning" further away from "Oppenheimer," but Paramount Pictures wouldn't budge. And ultimately, Christopher Nolan is IMAX's special little guy.
"Nolan has a special place in IMAX's heart because he uses our cameras and promotes us," IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond told Variety in June. "It's not a matter of us saying which [movie] we can make more money on. I would hope after 'Oppenheimer's' run, we can bring back 'Mission.'"
However, even if it wasn't about the money back then, it's definitely a factor now. Following the opening weekend for "Oppenheimer," IMAX reported that 26.2 percent of its domestic box office debut came from ticket sales at just 411 locations, and a further 14.8 percent of its international box office came from only 329 IMAX screens around the world. During an earnings call earlier this week, Gelfond said that "Oppenheimer" had lifted IMAX to/ one of its best weekends of all time.
The scarcity of 70mm IMAX showings of "Oppenheimer" in particular (they're available at just 19 locations across the United States, and only 30 theaters in total worldwide) has led to tickets rapidly selling out. This extended run might be bad news for "Mission: Impossible," but it's good news for anyone who missed out on grabbing an IMAX ticket for "Oppenheimer" the first time around.