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Aug 20, 2023

Paramount Refused IMAX’s Attempt to Help Mission: Impossible 7’s Box Office

IMAX's head of post-production claims Paramount rejected their suggestion to push back Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One's premiere. After a hot start at the box office, Mission:

IMAX's head of post-production claims Paramount rejected their suggestion to push back Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One's premiere.

After a hot start at the box office, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One continues to struggle against the "Barbenheimer" revolution, with IMAX's head of post-production claiming the film's fate could have been different if Paramount accepted a simple suggestion.

During an interview with Forbes, Bruce Markoe revealed IMAX asked Paramount if they could postpone the release of Dead Reckoning Part One from its July 12 premiere date, which came nine days before Barbie and Oppenheimer's joint release. This after it was reported franchise star Tom Cruise was angered by the latest Mission: Impossible sequel only receiving a week-long run in IMAX cinemas before Oppenheimer got an extended run. However, when IMAX approached Paramount with the suggestion, which would have given them a bigger slice of the box office pie with an uninterrupted run on the big screen, the studio refused. "We wanted to play both movies as much as we could because Mission is going to be a great picture in IMAX, but they [the studio], dated the movie right behind Oppenheimer. We wanted to get them to move it, to create more time to play both in IMAX to the full extent that they both wanted, but it didn't work out. That's not our decision – that's the studio's," Markoe said.

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One reason Oppenheimer got the nod for an extended run in theaters was due to the film being shot specifically for large-format, IMAX-friendly screens. Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed biographical thriller initially got a three-week run in IMAX cinemas before that stretch was extended following the delay of Neill Blomkamp's Gran Turismo. That said, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond hinted at Dead Reckoning Part One securing a return once Barbie and Oppenheimer stop showing.

Dead Reckoning Part One had one of the best openings for a Mission: Impossible title ever, earning around $235 million internationally during its first five days in theaters. However, the movie suffered the biggest second-weekend dropoff for a Mission: Impossible movie ever thanks to "Barbenheimer," with Barbie ($811 million) and Oppenheimer ($431 million) going on to far exceed box-office expectations since their shared opening. To date, Dead Reckoning Part One has grossed $461 million in global ticket sales.

Had Paramount accepted IMAX's suggestion to push back Dead Reckoning Part One, it would have been the fifth different opening date for the seventh movie in the Mission: Impossible series had they agreed. Dead Reckoning Part One had premieres set for 2021 and 2022 before agreeing on a Jul. 12 release, with delays caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as budgetary disagreements involving Paramount, Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie. Dead Reckoning Part One cost $291 million to make, the highest-ever budget for a Mission: Impossible movie.

RELATED: Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One Is the Best Entry in 12 Years

Dead Reckoning Part One leads into the titular Part Two, which is scheduled for release on June 28, 2024. However, Dead Reckoning Part Two is in a bit of limbo considering production was recently halted due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes gripping Hollywood. Additionally, McQuarrie recently admitted he and Cruise are still figuring out the ending to Part Two.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is now showing in theaters.

Source: Forbes

Jodee Brown is a Freelance Movie/TV News writer at CBR. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Jodee is an avid content creator, sports lover and occasional poet in his spare time, as well as a huge Black Panther fan.