SONY - Is saving the 2023 summer box office an impossible mission?

2023-07-14 15:04:33 ET

The Hollywood film industry is facing up to its first double acting/writing strike in 63 years , but there's still some unfinished business this month in salvaging what has been a disappointing summer at the box office.

This weekend, it's "next savior up" as Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One ( NASDAQ: PARA ) ( PARAA ) look to make a splash, even as the eighth Mission: Impossible film (Dead Reckoning Part Two) has now shuttered production amid the strike, endangering a summer 2024 release plan.

After gaining $15.5M on its Wednesday opening day, M:I -- Dead Reckoning Part One is setting up for a five-day weekend total of at least $90M. That wouldn't only serve as the best opening in Cruise's seven-film series, it would also mark the best summer opening since June 2 brought animated hit Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ( SONY ), which opened to $120.7M and has become the year's second-biggest domestic film.

It would be noticeably better than some recent high-profile contenders: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ( DIS ) opened to just $60.4M; Elemental ( DIS ) just $29.6M; and The Flash ( NASDAQ: WBD ) ended up as a high-stakes bomb against expectations with an opening of just $55M.

The new M:I also has a friendly lead face in box-office champion Cruise, who's also been stumping for filmgoers to see rival films at the theater this summer. His film gets a bit more than a week's head start against the other two "last hopes" of the summer: July 21 brings atomic-bomb creation story Oppenheimer ( NASDAQ: CMCSA ) and candy-colored toy-based movie Barbie ( WBD ), a release that doll maker Mattel ( MAT ) will be watching eagerly.

Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment ( NYSE: AMC ); Cineworld ( OTCPK:CNNWQ ); Cinemark ( CNK ); ( IMAX ); Marcus ( MCS ); Reading International ( RDI ); Cineplex ( CGX:CA ); National CineMedia ( NCMI ).

More on the Hollywood box office

• Box office in 2023: Disney, Universal duke it out while Warner lags
• New 'Indiana Jones' discovers $60M to lead box office
• Cinema stocks lag after 'The Flash,' 'Elemental' sink

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