5 Reasons Why The Final Reckoning Was A Win For Mission: Impossible At The Box Office

It was a big weekend at the box office, to put things mildly. Memorial Day is often an important time for Hollywood, with last year's double bill of "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" and "The Garfield Movie" having served as a rare disappointment for the holiday frame. Fortunately, this year's festivities rebounded in a big, bad way in no small part thanks to the efforts of one Mr. Tom Cruise.

Though it had to settle for second place behind Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" ($145.5 million), director Christopher McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning" opened to an estimated $64 million domestically. Once the Monday holiday is factored in, that number is expected to grow much closer to $80 million, representing a new high mark for the long-running franchise. The previous opening record was set by 2018's "Fallout" ($61.2 million), which went on to earn $786.6 million globally.

That's very good news for Paramount, seeing the budget for this movie is said to have ballooned as high as $400 million, making it one of the most expensive films ever made. That means it's almost impossible for this movie to profit in theaters alone, but there's still plenty of good news here for the franchise overall. For one, "Final Reckoning" pulled in an outstanding $127 million overseas for a $204.5 million global start. It's also now part of a record Memorial Day weekend, with all of the movies expected to bring in north of $325 million, collectively.

So, what went right here? How did Cruise's eighth go-around as IMF agent Ethan Hunt manage to hang in against such stuff competition? Can this movie overcome its hulking budget in the long run? We're going to take a deeper look at the film's early success at the box office and how it is, all things considered, an encouraging result. Let's get into it.

Though it may not come as a surprise given this franchise's legacy, audiences very much enjoyed "Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning." It currently holds a solid 80% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes to go with a very good 89% audience rating. Coupled with the film's sturdy A- CinemaScore, that ensures that Ethan Hunt, if it is indeed his final go-around, can go out on a good note — maybe not the best note up there with the likes of "Rogue Nation" or "Fallout," but a damn good note nonetheless. The fact that something this well-regarded is going to end up in the middle of the pack for this property speaks volumes about the quality of the enterprise overall.

There is a reason this franchise has endured for damn near 30 years. For the most part, Cruise and the various directors have delivered crowd pleaser after crowd pleaser without ever over-extending their reach. The only critical exception was 2000's "Mission: Impossible II," which was still an absolutely monster financial hit. So, even though "The Final Reckoning" may not go down as the best entry in the movie series, audiences were thrilled enough by that stellar finale to give this one positive word of mouth, which will hopefully carry it through much of the summer around the world.

It simply cannot be overstated just how much of a factor IMAX, as well as other premium format screens, were when it comes to the opening number posted by "The Final Reckoning." In recent years, audiences have been happy to pay a premium to see the right movie on the biggest screen possible, with IMAX remaining an industry leader in that space. Most of the time, the "Mission: Impossible" films have been the right movies for those screens, with those ticket sales boosting the box office.

Unfortunately, "Dead Reckoning" got the short end of the stick in that department because Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" saw its IMAX run extended, which screwed Paramount and Cruise. This time around, the studio wasn't going to make that same mistake and it ensured that Ethan Hunt's allegedly final mission was going to get the red carpet treatment on premium format screens all over the world. As a result, the franchise saw its grosses return to pre-pandemic levels.

Costs notwithstanding, this is a result that the studio would be thrilled with. Unfortunately, the budget was inflated by two different Hollywood strikes, pandemic-driven expenses, reshoots, and high cast salaries. IMAX can at least help offset some of those expenditures this time around.

As mentioned, "Lilo & Stitch" was the bigger winner over the weekend, with Disney's latest live-action reimagining pulling in over $300 million globally through Sunday. That said, as we've seen over the last few years, there can be room for more than one big blockbuster on the right weekend. It's all about the art of counterprogramming. In this case, "The Final Reckoning" proved to be the perfect counter to Disney's more family-friendly, PG offering. The two films combined to make sure every single sort of moviegoer could find something worth checking out over Memorial Day.

As we saw with Barbenheimer in 2023, a broad appeal, family-friendly movie coupled with a more adult, in many cases male-focused movie can create a massive double bill. "Oppenheimer," of course, was the perfect counter for "Barbie" in 2023. Then, in 2024, "Gladiator II" proved to be an equally perfect counter for "Wicked." Paramount sacrificed nothing by going up against "Lilo & Stitch," it seems. That is better for the overall health of the industry since it means, with the right release calendar, more big movies can succeed in a given year. Even though its budget is going to be a limiting factor, this latest "Mission: Impossible" film served as an encouraging sign of life for the global theatrical marketplace.

Without getting into the critical reception or one's personal ranking of the franchise as a whole, Paramount, Cruise, and McQuarrie made a very wise decision in retitling this movie "The Final Reckoning." Originally, in the aftermath of the success of "Fallout," Paramount announced the seventh and eighth "Mission: Impossible" films would shoot back-to-back, with "Dead Reckoning Part One" and "Dead Reckoning Part Two" serving as the titles. They would be two halves of a whole, setting up an epic conclusion to the franchise.

Ultimately, the studio reversed course, later retitling the eighth installment to "The Final Reckoning." Recent history has taught us that only promising half a movie isn't the best strategy for studios to follow. "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame," for example, ditched the "Part 1" and "Part 2" thing, and, safe to say, it worked out well there. Similarly, "Wicked: Part 2" has since been renamed "Wicked: For Good" ahead of its arrival in the fall. It's quite simple: Audiences want a complete experience, and they don't want to feel like they're paying for only half of a story.

In this case, the "Final" bit promised a true conclusion, which only added to the intrigue (in addition to doing away with the notion of the film being merely the second half of a whole). Granted, the movie is very much connected to the events of "Dead Reckoning," but that's another conversation entirely. The perception is what mattered here. 

The one thing this movie (and this franchisee) has that few others have is Tom Cruise. Dating back to the '80s when he broke out in movies like "Risky Business" and "Top Gun," Cruise helped to redefine what the term movie star meant. Amazingly, he's continued that hot streak into his 60s. Despite the tragically high budget, few stars alive today could help make the eighth entry in a franchise that has lasted three decades a global phenomenon of this size. Budget aside, a 62-year-old action star giving a blockbuster an opening above $200 million globally is wildly impressive.

From the highly publicized, ridiculous stunts Cruise undertakes in the "Mission" movies to his legendary running scenes, audiences know that he is going to deliver on the spectacle in these films. The fact that this may well be the final outing for Ethan Hunt only gives it an additional must-see stamp of approval. Yes, there are other movie stars out there (from Dwayne Johnson to Margot Robbie), but none of them can bring what Cruise does to the table. Unwavering, almost twisted levels of dedication to the craft and global recognition make him an asset.

As such, it's clear with this movie's opening that, despite the eye-melting price tag, Cruise is worth the money. Paramount now has a complete "Mission: Impossible" franchise that will help ensure the movies have even more value in the studio's catalog for years to come. This is one of those situations where there's a lot more to consider commercially beyond the box office. Cruise is the key driving factor when it comes to that value, no question about it.

"Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning" is in theaters now.