This year has already seen a marked improvement for Paramount over 2017, with “A Quiet Place” becoming the studio’s biggest hit in nearly two years. But now the studio will send in “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” as its big tentpole release for the year this weekend, and it does so on a wave of rave reviews for Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise’s latest action film.
Other long-running franchises such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” have seen the law of diminishing returns set in, but “M:I” seems to be getting stronger as it and its lead star age, with “Fallout” holding a 97 percent “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes as critics call it the best action film since “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
“Tom Cruise hasn’t always had the box office success in recent years as he had in the ’80s and ’90s,” said comScore’s Paul Dergarabedian. “But ‘Mission: Impossible’ has brought out the best in him and fans have responded. Even though we’ve had male-oriented action films come out the last two weeks with ‘Skyscraper’ and ‘Equalizer 2’ in the last couple weeks, that shouldn’t get in the way of this film considering that, if the reviews are any indication, ‘Fallout’ has the goods.”
And it couldn’t come at a better time for Paramount, as this is the first “M:I” film released under CEO Jim Gianopulos as he works to recover the studio’s plummeting box office numbers. While the Melrose studio only has a five percent market share so far this year with $346.5 million grossed domestically, “Fallout” and other major releases like “Bumblebee” and “Overlord” should push annual totals past the mere $534 million Paramount made last year, by far its worst performance since the turn of the century.
The last film in the “M:I” franchise — 2015’s “Rogue Nation” — grossed $682 million worldwide with $195 million domestic and an opening weekend of $55.5 million. Paramount is expecting a similar opening weekend for “Fallout,” with studio projections in the $50 million range against a budget of $178 million. But analysts are more optimistic, projecting a start in the $60 million range. That would be the best opening for the franchise, breaking the $57 million record made by “Mission: Impossible II” way back in 2000.
But it should be noted that when adjusted for inflation, the opening for “Mission: Impossible II” sits at just under $100 million, with an adjusted domestic run of $370 million. So while “Mission: Impossible” is still performing well for Paramount, it’s clearly taken a backseat on the current action movie franchise scene to the “Fast & Furious” franchise. Box office analyst Shawn Robbins notes that this is likely because that car-toting series sports stars like Dwayne Johnson who are more popular with millennials, while the 55-year-old Cruise holds clout with older audiences.
“When you include the TV show the films are based on, ‘Mission: Impossible’ is over 40 years old, and the first film came out 22 years ago, so it’s definitely a bigger film for the Gen X crowd,” Robbins said. “But while the average age for this film will probably be higher than ‘Fast & Furious,’ millennials are going to show up to a good summer blockbuster, so all signs are pointing to a good result here for Paramount.”
“Mission: Impossible — Fallout” sees Cruise return as Ethan Hunt as his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) and some old allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) team up after a failed mission causes “Rogue Nation” villain Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) to escape custody.
Determined to complete his original mission, Ethan’s determination makes the CIA question his motives, forcing him and his team to save the world as both villains and a CIA assassin (Henry Cavill) track him. McQuarrie wrote and directed the film, which also stars Angela Bassett.
While Paramount swings for the fences, Warner Bros. will look for low-budget franchise success with “Teen Titans Go! To The Movies,” based on the hit Cartoon Network/DC series. Early reviews have praised the manic animated film as the kids answer to “Deadpool,” with rapid-fire, fourth-wall breaking references to both DC and Marvel’s superhero movie past. With a reported budget of $10 million, WB is expected to make an easy profit off this film as trackers project a $15 million opening off of the show’s fanbase.
“Teen Titans Go! To The Movies” stars the show’s voice cast as Robin and the DC superhero team, along with Will Arnett as the supervillain Slade with Nicolas Cage and Jimmy Kimmel playing Superman and Batman in cameo roles. Showrunner Aaron Hovarth wrote and directed the film, with series producer Peter Rida Michail co-directing and co-showrunner Michael Jelenic co-writing.
All 43 Tom Cruise Movies Ranked, From So-So to Phenomenal (Photos)
Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout," the sixth film in the franchise, opens this weekend. But where does it land within the context of his extensive filmography? TheWrap has ranked all of Cruise's films, from the so-so to the phenomenal.
43. "Cocktail"
Cruise's Type-A, adrenaline-fueled drive serves him very well in movies where the stakes are high. But “Cocktail” is just "Top Gun" behind a bar. The work-hard play-hard clichés at work here threatened to make Cruise the role model for handsome, affable, lame guys you swipe past on dating apps. Cruise smartly swiped away from roles like this.
Touchstone Pictures
42. "Endless Love"
Tom Cruise has a tiny part in this Brooke Shields melodrama, his first ever on-screen role. He stumbles off a soccer field, goes shirtless and shares a story with the protagonist about how he almost burned his house down. You were probably sold at "goes shirtless."
Universal
41. "Legend"
What’s sillier: Tom Cruise’s unicorn or his hair? “Legend” was a lavish, fantastical adventure that turned out to be a massive box-office misfire from director Ridley Scott and Cruise.
Universal
40. "Austin Powers in Goldmember"
Cruise makes an amusing cameo as Austin Powers in a fake trailer for a movie-within-the-movie called “Austinpussy.” But this opening to the third “Austin Powers” is its only highlight.
New Line Cinema
39. "Far and Away"
Ron Howard directs Cruise and his then-partner Nicole Kidman in this romance between a wealthy landlord’s daughter and a poor Irish street fighter. Cruise's accent isn't great.
Universal Pictures
38. "Knight and Day"
Wacky, screwball action-comedies almost never work, and in James Mangold’s “Knight and Day,” Cruise and Cameron Diaz weren’t exactly Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in “Charade." But the movie has its passionate fans.
Twentieth Century Fox
37. "Interview With a Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles"
This is probably the movie where you're most aware Cruise is acting. After all, he’s playing a vampire. This showy, flashy role would’ve been better suited for someone like Johnny Depp. Cruise’s Lestat doesn't feel as hungry as most Tom Cruise characters, just thirsty. For blood.
Warner Bros.
36. "Losin' It"
Thankfully Cruise graduated from ‘80s teen sex-romps like this, but Curtis Hanson’s “Losin’ It” has some charm with Cruise running through Tijuana with a young Jackie Earle Haley, John Stockwell and a housewife played by Shelley Long.
Embassy Pictures
35. "Jack Reacher 2: Never Go Back"
The sequel to “Jack Reacher” was a rare, mediocre step back for Cruise.
Paramount
34. "Rock of Ages"
Cruise doing his best Axl Rose impression as the rock-god Stacee Jaxx is the best part of this cute, harmless stage adaptation. He commits.
New Line Cinema
33. "The Mummy"
There’s no reason one of the Chrises or a Hemsworth brother couldn’t have starred in “The Mummy.” Why would you get Tom Cruise for your movie just to sap him of his charisma and make him second fiddle to a maelstrom of clunky CGI action? This dopey, poorly written and definitely not scary mess of a monster movie is a waste of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Universal
32. "The Outsiders"
Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Outsiders” wasn’t well reviewed at its time, but it’s a great time capsule of Cruise in a small part of a gang of other teen heartthrobs of the day, including Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez. Many who grew up with it consider it a classic.
Warner Bros.
31. "All the Right Moves"
In one of the early teen roles that would define his hard-driving persona, Cruise contends with a football coach played by Craig T. Nelson in a classic and well-meaning but clichéd sports movie.
Twentieth Century Fox
30. "Days of Thunder"
It’s “Top Gun” on wheels, with Tony Scott reuniting with Cruise as an up-and-coming racecar driver and pairing him for the first time with Nicole Kidman, as well as Robert Duvall. But by this point Cruise had already played the young hot shot too many times.
Paramount Pictures
29. "Mission: Impossible II"
John Woo’s hyper-stylized sequel has aged horribly. At times it looks like an ad for sunglasses or cologne. The excessive explosions, bullet-time slow motion and even doves circling Cruise are a laughably bad remnant of late '90s action.
Paramount
28. "Lions for Lambs"
Robert Redford aimed for intellectual pedigree with his political drama starring Cruise and Meryl Streep, but it's mostly high-minded, overly-polished lecturing.
MGM
27. "Valkyrie"
Cruise plays a German officer who conspired to assassinate Hitler and assume power. We all know how that went. Thankfully, Cruise doesn’t belabor a phony German accent, but Bryan Singer’s drama is mostly historical set dressing.
United Artists
26. "Taps"
In just his second on-screen role, Cruise plays an unhinged military cadet who goes to extreme lengths to protect the academy when it’s threatened by encroaching condo developers. He almost steals the show from George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton and a young Sean Penn.
Twentieth Century Fox
25. "Vanilla Sky"
“Vanilla Sky” contains a risky, very underrated Cruise role. Cruise goes from playing the cocky, unstoppable Cruise archetype to a deformed, defeated man trying to figure out what matters. Cameron Crowe’s remake of a Spanish-language film shifts genres stunningly, and it’s proved a polarizing movie in both Cruise and Crowe’s catalog.
Paramount
24. "The Last Samurai"
John Oliver has made “The Last Samurai” infamous as a prime example of Hollywood’s Asian whitewashing. But Cruise is good enough to make it almost work. It’s a solid samurai epic with Cruise fighting out of his element, playing an American Civil War official overseas as a dynasty comes to an end.
Warner Bros.
23. "Mission: Impossible III"
J.J. Abrams was brought in to reboot the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, so to speak, and he brought his signature lens flares and gritty realism to the property, sapping some of the fun out of it. The film’s high point isn’t Cruise, but Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the villain.
Paramount
22. "The Firm"
Tom Cruise + John Grisham + Gene Hackman + Sydney Pollack? “The Firm” should’ve been a slam dunk, but it’s not even Cruise’s best courtroom drama.
Paramount
21. "Oblivion"
Joseph Kosinski’s “Oblivion” is visually stunning and finds Cruise tidying up Earth after the battle for humanity has ended and the planet has been evacuated. The sci-fi premise has promise but loses steam as some of the Morgan Freeman-delivered twists and parables start to come out.
Universal Pictures
20. "Jack Reacher"
Lee Child described Jack Reacher in his book as being 6 foot 5 inches tall, up to 250 pounds and having a 50-inch chest. That ain’t Tom Cruise. But Christopher McQuarrie extracts from Cruise a grizzled, angry action hero. Plus having Werner Herzog as your movie’s villain doesn’t hurt.
Paramount
19. “American Made”
“American Made” is almost like a spiritual sequel to “Top Gun.” Tom Cruise behind the wheel of a plane -- flashing the same smirk he did over 30 years ago -- makes for another invigorating popcorn movie that never stops moving. But where that film was unabashedly jingoistic, Doug Liman’s film is a more cynical satire of the War on Drugs and the Reagan Era.
Universal Pictures
18. "The Color of Money"
This was the movie that won Paul Newman his Oscar, a swan-song sequel to “The Hustler” by Martin Scorsese in which Cruise may as well be type-cast as the new arrogant upstart. But Cruise captivates with that infectious, cocky glint in his eye as he whips his cue around, knocking ‘em dead to the tune of “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon.
Touchstone Pictures
17. "Tropic Thunder"
Cruise is hilariously unrecognizable beneath a balding wig, caked on makeup and some added pounds as Les Grossman, a raging, foul-mouthed studio exec. His fuming anger and profanity in this cameo makes him a pimple ready to burst, and his best dialogue isn’t even fit to print.
Paramount
16. "Mission: Impossible"
The original “Mission: Impossible” is unusual, not quite an action movie and more of a campy, espionage thriller. But Brian De Palma brings an auteurist mentality that combines the best of noir, Hitchcock and the original "Mission: Impossible" series. And it’s rightfully famous for Cruise’s balletic, expertly executed heist as he dangles from the ceiling and tries not to break a sweat.
Paramount
15. "Rain Man"
“Rain Man” may actually be one of the more overrated Best Picture winners. Barry Levinson’s film is just a road trip movie with a showy Dustin Hoffman performance at its center. And yet Cruise revealed an untapped tender side.
United Artists
14. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"
Brad Bird brought some of the cartoonish charm from Pixar over to the fourth “M:I” film, but he also staged one of the best action set pieces of this century. Yes, that really was Cruise dangling off the side of the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, and it paid off.
Paramount
13. "War of the Worlds"
Critics were torn as to whether Cruise made a convincing father figure in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the famous H.G. Wells story, but the human element elevated this already tense sci-fi thriller.
Paramount
12. "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation"
Five movies into the franchise, and Christopher McQuarrie’s film was the first that suggested a future for this franchise beyond Cruise, taking the best elements of each subsequent “M:I” film and making them gel. It culminates in a slick assassination inside an opera and a standout new foil for Cruise in Rebecca Ferguson. And Cruise is just awesome in it.
Paramount
11. "Collateral"
Cruise never gets to play the bad guy, but he’s excellent at it. Michael Mann transformed Cruise into a mysterious silver fox and silent killer, toying with his hostage Jamie Foxx’s mind and morality until the two form an unexpected bond.
Paramount
10. "Top Gun"
Even 30 years later, we still feel the need for speed. There’s still no better popcorn movie that flaunts ‘80s nostalgia, jingoistic Americana and hyper-masculinity than “Top Gun.” Plus that gloriously homoerotic volleyball scene.
Paramount
9. "Risky Business"
When Tom Cruise slid across that wood floor in his underwear and a white dress shirt to the opening riff of “Old Time Rock and Roll,” that was it; a star was born. The movie as a whole channels everything that made Cruise a star, including his hot-shot attitude and smirking charm. But he also subverts and challenges other teen films.
Warner Bros.
8. "Edge of Tomorrow"
“Edge of Tomorrow” is the kind of action movie that reminds you why Cruise is so reliable in his heroic roles. Cruise plays a captain in this sci-fi who sells a war to the public, but is privately a coward. When he’s killed in battle and brought back to life in an endless vicious cycle played for pathos and some laughs, he regains composure. Emily Blunt gives a fantastic, hard-edged performance as well.
Warner Bros.
7. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout"
Tom Cruise's sixth entry in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise is a sensational action film. Between a punishing bathroom fight scene where Cruise and Henry Cavill get pummeled and an endless car-and-motorcycle chase through Paris, "Fallout" constantly accelerates and pushes every moment to the edge. What's more, this film cements director Christopher McQuarrie as a serious action filmmaker to watch.
Paramount
6. "A Few Good Men"
Cruise displays youthful goodness, decency and spirit in the face of juggernaut Jack Nicholson. "A Few Good Men" has exactly the sort of rousing emotion Hollywood needs to tap into again to find more hit dramas for adults.
Columbia Pictures
5. "Eyes Wide Shut"
All anyone wanted to talk about with Stanley Kubrick’s final film was the chemistry between Cruise and his wife Nicole Kidman, or the lack thereof. But that icy demeanor in what presents itself as an erotic romance amplified the surreal mystery of the film and made Cruise vulnerable and human.
Warner Bros. Pictures
4. "Jerry Maguire"
The quintessential rom-com, “Jerry Maguire” is timeless yet also perfectly '90s. Cameron Crowe’s endlessly quotable screenplay wouldn’t be quite the same without Cruise’s comic timing as he bellows “Show Me the Money” and lampoons his own hot-shot persona.
TriStar Pictures
3. "Born on the Fourth of July"
As a crippled war vet in Oliver Stone’s Vietnam drama, Cruise turns from a starry-eyed, clean-cut soldier to a vocal, harried Vietnam protestor. It’s a rebuke to the blind patriotism flaunted in Cruise’s own “Top Gun” and is one of Stone’s best films.
Universal
2. "Minority Report"
Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi has aged beautifully, in part because Silicon Valley has borrowed so much from it. Cruise looks so cool manipulating video in the Pre-Cog crime lab, he practically invented touch screens. Spielberg bakes endless fun and invigorating, futuristic chase sequences into a screenplay that contemplates big questions of fate and free will.
Twentieth Century Fox
1. "Magnolia"
Not only is this Paul Thomas Anderson’s magnum-opus, an epic, surreal character drama of love, family and the meaning of life, it’s Cruise at his most unhinged and commanding. He plays a vile, lascivious men’s right advocate named Frank T.J. Mackey, whose mantra is “respect the cock.” Cruise made it possible to dislike, even loathe one of his characters, and yet he’s chillingly charismatic.
New Line Cinema
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Where does ”Mission: Impossible – Fallout“ land on our list?
Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout," the sixth film in the franchise, opens this weekend. But where does it land within the context of his extensive filmography? TheWrap has ranked all of Cruise's films, from the so-so to the phenomenal.