CueHenry Cavill’s shotgun arms! To the surprise of absolutely no one,Mission: Impossible - Falloutabsolutely dominated the box office this weekend, exceeding expectations to take in $61.5 million in its first-weekend debut. The numbers are good enough for a franchise high—the film hauled in $6 million more in its opening weekend thanMission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, which went on to earn a $195,042,377 domestic gross—and the second best opening gross ofTom Cruise’s 35-year career, behind onlySteven Spielberg’sWar of the Worlds($64.9 million, not adjusted for inflation).
To be fair, Cruise, the cast, and directorChristopher McQuarrieearned that money, man.Mission: Impossibleis the rare franchise that gets better with each movie—Falloutboasts an A on CinemaScore, the best of the six entries—and if Tom Cruise is going to keep breaking his ankle and leaping both out of and off ungodly tall structures for our enjoyment, I predict the audience will keep showing up. (Read our own Matt Goldberg’s reviewhere.)
With that said, maybeMeryl Streepshould look into learning how to fly a helicopter.Mamma Mia! Here We Go Againand theDenzel Washington-starring revenge-thriller sequelThe Equalizer 2took home enough at the box office to land in second and third place—$15 million and $14 million, respectively—but those numbers also reflect a major drop off for both films.Mamma Mia!nose-dived by57.1% from its opening weekend, whileThe Equalizer 2slowed to a crawl by 61.1%.
Really, this just wasn’t the weekend tonotbe Tom Cruise dismantling a nuclear bomb on the side of a cliff. Warner Bros. animated entryTeen Titans Go! to the Moviesunderperformed with a $10, 510, 000 haul in its first weekend, which is world-shattering compared toHot Summer Nights.The indie from A24 starring rising mega-talentTimothee Chalametbowed to a $12,166 opening weekend at 12 locations, for a theater average of $1, 014.
But hey, there is still good in these dark and unsure times:Incredibles 2continued its march toward the $1 billion club, taking home $7.2 million in the states and another $20 million world worldwide in its seventh week in theaters.
Check out the full weekend estimates below, and check back next weekend when we see if theMila KunisandKate McKinnonaction-comedyThe Spy Who Dumped Mecan keep the secret agent trend going.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
$61,500,000
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!
$15,000,000
$70,425,525
The Equalizer 2
$14,000,000
$64,231,345
Hotel Transylvania 3
$12,305,000
$119,228,501
Teen Titans Go! to the Movies
$10,510,000
Ant-Man and the Wasp
$8,400,000
$183,124,127
Incredibles 2
$7,157,000
$572,780,648
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
$6,775,000
$397, 555,500
Skyscraper
$5,400,000
$59,152,760
The First Purge
$2,230,000
$65,485,875
