Mission: Impossible III achieved its mission by taking the box office this weekend–but it wasn’t exactly a slam dunk. The Tom Cruise actioner, which garnered plenty of positive reviews, grossed $48 million–far below its predicted huge opening that would kick off the summer blockbuster line up, and almost $10 million lower than the franchise’s previous installments.
Some prognosticators are attributing M:i III’s low numbers to Cruise’s recent overexposure in the media.
“Expectations were really high for this film. I think it’s a good number, but people were obviously expecting better numbers,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations told The Associated Press. “There’s a lot to be said for how a star’s public persona can affect a movie’s box office.”
The third M:I installment wasn’t able to top its predecessor. Mission: Impossible II opened in 2000 with $57.8 million. Even Cruise’s War of the Worlds debuted last summer with $64.8 mil. But comparisons are difficult, since both of those movies opened over long holiday weekends, when Sunday grosses typically are much stronger than during a regular weekend.
The weekend’s other wide releases had fair to poor openings. An American Haunting, starring Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland in a 19th century supernatural tale, debuted in third place with $6.4 million. The family film Hoot, adapted from Carl Hiaasen’s novel about teenagers trying to save endangered owls, tied for ninth place with $3.4 million.
The Top 12 films this week grossed an estimated $100.2 million, up 11.15 percent from last weekend’s total of $90.1 million and up 27.70 percent from last year’s draw of $78.4 million.
The Top Three films at the box office this time last year were: 20th Century Fox’s Kingdom of Heaven, which debuted at No. 1 with $19.6 million in 3,216 theaters, averaging $6,106 per theater; Warner Bros. House of Wax, which debuted in second place with $12 million in 3,111 theaters, averaging $3,882 per theaters; and Buena Vista’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which dropped to third place in its second week with $9.7 million in 3,133 theaters, averaging $3,126 per theaters (Click here to read last year’s box office report).
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES
(Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Mission: Impossible III (Paramount, PG-13)
• Gross: $48 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 4,054
• Per-theater average: $11,840
No. 2: R.V. (Sony Pictures, PG)
• Gross: $16.4 million (-32%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 3,651 (+12)
• Per-theater average: $3,040
• Cume to date: $31 million
No. 3: An American Haunting (Freestyle Releasing, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.3 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 1,667
• Per-theater average: $3,827
No. 4: Stick It (Buena Vista, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.5 million (-49%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,044 (+6)
• Per-theater average: $2,702
• Cume to date: $17.9 million
No. 5: United 93 (Universal, R)
• Gross: $11.6 million (-55%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 1,819 (+24)
• Per-theater average: $2,859
• Cume to date: $20.1 million
No. 6: Ice Age: The Meltdown (20th Century Fox, PG)
• Gross: $4 million (-44%)
• Weeks opened: 6
• Theaters: 2,426 (-696)
• Per-theater average: $1,649
• Cume to date: $183.2 million
No. 7: Silent Hill (Sony Pictures, R)
• Gross: $3.9 million (-58%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,556 (+6)
• Per-theater average: $1,526
• Cume to date: $40.8 million
No. 8: Scary Movie 4 (Weinstein Co., PG-13)
• Gross: $3.7 million (-52%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,537 (-255)
• Per-theater average: $1,483
• Cume to date: $83.7 million
No. 9 (TIE): Hoot (New Line, PG)
• Gross: $3.4 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,018
• Per-theater average: $1,127
No. 10 (TIE): Akeelah and the Bee (Lions Gate, PG)
• Gross: $3.4 million (-43%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 2,195 (unchanged)
• Per-theater average: $1,549
• Cume to date: $10.6 million
OTHER OPENINGS
Art School Confidential (Sony Pictures Classics, R)
• Gross: $142,157
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 12
• Per-theater average: $11,846
Down in the Valley (ThinkFilm, R)
• Gross: $26,310
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3
• Per-theater average: $8,770
The Promise (Warner Independent, PG-13)
• Gross: $271,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 213
• Per-theater average: $1,272
