By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --After six movies, 22 years, countless bruises and a broken ankle, Tom Cruise's death-defying "Mission: Impossible" stunts continue to pay off at the box office.
"Mission: Impossible — Fallout" easily took the No. 1 spot on the domestic charts this weekend. Paramount Pictures estimates that it earned $61.5 million from 4,386 North American theaters.
Not accounting for inflation, it's a best for the long-running franchise, which has grossed $2.8 billion worldwide, and one of Cruise's biggest too (just shy of "War of the Worlds'" $64.9 million debut in 2005). Internationally, the film earned $92 million from 36 markets which is also a franchise best.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, "Fallout" has scored some of the best reviews in the series and has been in the news cycle for almost a year. Talk about the film started early, in August of 2017, when Cruise broke his ankle performing a stunt in London with video to prove it.
"Paramount was strategically perfect in their marketing and publicity game," said comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "They showed how important a star's presence is in marketing the movie early on. Tom Cruise broke his ankle and they made that into a positive for the movie — it fed the Tom Cruise 'Mission: Impossible' mystique."
Second place went to "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," which fell 57 percent in its second weekend in theaters, to earn $15 million. It was a much steeper decline than the first film, which dropped only 36 percent between its first and second weekends.
Denzel Washington's "The Equalizer 2" slid to third with $14 million in weekend two, and "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation" took fourth with $12.3 million.
The animated "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies," a feature spinoff of the Cartoon Network television show about Robin and some of the lesser-known DC superheroes, was the only major film to open against "Fallout." The Warner Bros. release earned $10.5 million and landed in fifth place.
The film earned positive reviews from critics and younger audiences, but also faced a fair amount of animated competition from both "Hotel Transylvania 3" and "Incredibles 2," which is still going strong in its seventh weekend and headed toward the $1 billion mark. As of Sunday the Disney/Pixar sequel had earned an estimated $996.5 million globally.
But although $10.5 million might seem on the lower side, "Teen Titans" also cost only $10 million to produce.
"Family movies like this will play for a lot of weeks," said Warner Bros.' domestic distribution president Jeff Goldstein. "The whole objective of this movie was to work with our cousins in other Warner units for brand identification."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Mission: Impossible — Fallout," $61.5 million ($92 million international).
2. "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," $15 million ($26.6 million international).
3. "The Equalizer 2," $14 million ($1.9 million international).
4. "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation," $12.3 million ($31 million international).
5. "Teen Titans Go! To the Movies," $10.5 million ($1 million international).
6. "Ant-Man and The Wasp," $8.4 million ($11.5 million international).
7. "Incredibles 2," $7.2 million ($20 million international).
8. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," $6.8 million ($10.9 million international).
9. "Skyscraper," $5.4 million ($17.7 million international).
10. "The First Purge," $2.2 million ($4.5 million international).
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to comScore:
1. "Hello Mr. Billionaire," $129.5 million.
2. "Mission: Impossible — Fallout," $92 million.
3. "Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings," $42.9 million.
4. "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation," $31 million.
5. "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," $26.6 million.
6. "Incredibles 2," $20 million.
7. "Skyscraper," $17.7 million.
8. "Ant-Man and The Wasp," $11.5 million.
9. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," $10.9 million.
10. "Illang: The Wolf Brigade," $5.2 million.
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
Review: Director James Watkins’ “Speak No Evil”
Quick. Has there ever been a horror film set in a country home with a decent cell signal?
Nope, and there's no signal at Paddy and Ciara's house, either, deep in the English countryside. Soon, that land line will be cut, too, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Paddy and Ciara are that fun-but-somewhat-odd British couple whom Louise and Ben, early in "Speak No Evil," meet on their idyllic Tuscan family holiday. Americans based in London, Louise and Ben are at loose ends, with both job and relationship issues. And so, when the new acquaintances write to invite them for a country weekend, they decide to go.
After all, how bad could it be?
Don't answer that. There are many such moments in the first two-thirds of "Speak No Evil," a Hollywood remake of the 2022 Danish film, here starring a deeply menacing James McAvoy. Moments where Louise and Ben, out of mere politeness and social convention, act against their instincts, which tell them something is wrong – very wrong.
Director James Watkins and especially his excellent troupe of actors, adult and children alike, do a nice job of building the tension, slowly but surely. Until all bloody hell breaks loose, of course. And then, in its third act, "Speak No Evil" becomes an entertaining but routine horror flick, with predictable results.
But for a while, it's a way more intelligent film. And the jumpy moments work — I'll confess to literally springing out of my seat when someone uneventfully turned on a power drill.
We begin in stunning Tuscany, where Louise (Mackenzie Davis, in the film's most accessible and empathetic performance) and Ben (Scoot McNairy, all nerves and insecurity) are vacationing with 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler). At the pool, they... Read More