Paramount gets back into the game with their action franchise sequel Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation [MISS5], its first wide release since Hot Tub Time Machine 2 in February. Tom Cruise [TCRUI] returns to lead the fifth installment that also brings back familiar faces in Ving Rhames [VRHAM], Simon Pegg [SPEGG] and Jeremy Renner [JRENN]. Newcomer Rebecca Ferguson [RFERG] fills the film’s only major female role. Since the release was rushed up from December 2015 to fill out Paramount’s empty summer schedule, the storyline has been kept mostly under wraps and the final film did not screen publically until two weeks ago. As a result, the film has been tracking only in the $40 million range. Marketing has mainly emphasized the action including Cruise’s latest signature stunt of hanging onto an airplane that’s taking off. The last installment Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol first opened in 425 IMAX theaters to $12.8 million before going wide with $29.6 million over Christmas weekend of 2011. The J.J. Abrams directed Mission: Impossible III weathered Cruise’s bad press during May 2006 to debut at $47.7 million. While advance ticket sales for Rogue Nation are ahead of previous films, the different time frames make comparisons unreliable. The positive critics’ reviews should help sway undecided adult fans of the series. Lighting up 3956 theaters, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation could ignite $50 million.
32 years after the original Vacation, Warner Bros. starts another Vacation [VACTN] starring Ed Helms [EHELM] as Rusty Griswold, now a father taking his own family on a similar cross-country road trip. The R-rated sequel riffs off many of the scenes from the Chevy Chase [CCHAS] comedy classic. However, reviews have been largely negative. Those who saw the original in theaters are probably too old to rush out opening weekend. In addition, male moviegoers have not responded to R-rated comedies this summer. After earning an underwhelming $3.8 million on Wednesday, Vacation may return just $15 million over the weekend from 3411 locations.
Ant-Man [ANTMN] should be able to hold off Minions [MNION] for third place at $13 million and $12 million, respectively.
It’s game over for Adam Sandler’s movie career as Pixels [PIXEL] looks to drop more than 55% in its second try to $11 million. Meanwhile, fellow sophomore pic Southpaw [SUPAW] could hold 60% of its debut for $10 million.
That’s the whisper from the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): MISS5, TCRUI, VRHAM, SPEGG, JRENN, RFERG, VACTN, EHELM, CCHAS, ANTMN, MNION, PIXEL, SUPAW