The 2023 blockbuster season has just picked up steam with Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol.3, Fast & Furious 10, and Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. With “Mission: Impossible 7: Dead Reckoning – Part One” and “Oppenheimer” the next hits are just around the corner. But before the action thriller and atomic bomb epic even hit theaters, a conflict has arisen that is the subject of these two highly anticipated films.
According to recent “newsletter from well-connected news analyst Matthew Belloni, Tom Cruise is pissed off about the theatrical release of Mission: Impossible 7. Why? On July 12, 2023 (in Germany on July 13), the espionage adventure celebrates its premiere in the US and will also be shown in most North American IMAX cinemas afterwards. A good week later, however, “Oppenheimer” starts, which can then be seen on all IMAX screens until mid-August.
As a result, the cinema capacity of “Mission: Impossible 7” on the XXL screens is already extremely limited from the second weekend. Belloni says Cruise is very pissed off about the situation and has been trying for days to convince theater operators (even with personal phone calls) to change their plans. Cruise now appears to be pursuing a plan to show “Mission Impossible 7” before “Oppenheimer” on select premium non-IMAX screens. Cruise also wants to provide a long-lasting, special cinema experience for his new blockbuster.
Will Tom Cruise lose in the end?
Christopher Nolan is known for his support of IMAX, and Oppenheimer was again shot largely with large-format IMAX cameras (read more here). Studio Universal has already set the current theatrical release date for 2021, long before “Mission: Impossible 7” got its early 2022 date. So whether Cruise’s angry objections will eventually pay off remains to be seen. Presumably, the superstar will eventually have to give in due to preliminary clarifications.
Tom Cruise, who launched Top Gun: Maverick as the second-highest-grossing film of 2022, says Belloni feels he’s not getting the treatment he thinks he deserves after the kite actor. Even Steven Spielberg thinks Tom Cruise “saved Hollywood’s ass” against all odds by pushing for a theatrical release of Top Gun 2. For “Mission: Impossible 7,” the superstar has now put his heart and soul back into it and is he didn’t shy away from any stunt, no matter how breakneck.
It remains to be seen whether “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning” will ultimately be able to build on the success of its predecessor “Mission Impossible: Fallout” ($787 million worldwide). Even with a potentially expanded IMAX capacity, it’s going to be tough for the movie to get off the ground again, as the competition is up against “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie” (also here on July 20) and “Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Destiny” (June 29) just damn strong.