Paramount Pictures' "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" opened at the top of the domestic box office this weekend, amassing $56.2 million during the regular three-day window, according to studio estimates.
The seventh installment in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise — which debuted in theaters Wednesday — grossed $80 million from the U.S. and Canada during its first five days, coming in shy of pre-release expectations. Early studio projections indicated that the big-budget action thriller would open with about $90 million.
Internationally, the film has earned $155 million for a worldwide total of $235 million.
With an estimated production budget of nearly $300 million, the film has a long way to go before becoming profitable. Enthusiastic reviews from critics and positive responses from audience surveys indicate that the movie could play well throughout the summer.
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, "Mission: Impossible 7 — Dead Reckoning Part One" stars Tom Cruise as international super-spy Ethan Hunt on yet another daring quest to save humanity. Among the supporting cast of the feature are Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales and Pom Klementieff.
The latest chapter of the "Mission: Impossible" saga scored a glowing 96% fresh rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and an A grade from audiences polled by CinemaScore.
"Cruise ... once again suffers for our pleasure like no one else, hurling himself and his motorcycle from great heights, fighting in claustrophobically tight spaces and, yes, running and running and running some more," writes Times film critic Justin Chang in his review.
"For all that, he knows how to temper his usual superhuman self-seriousness with lightness and wit. He's even gracious enough to cede some of the spotlight to his co-stars this time around, spending a fair chunk of the movie's endgame amusingly on the sidelines."
Rounding out the top three at the domestic box office this weekend are Angel Studios' "Sound of Freedom," which added $27 million in its sophomore outing for a North American cumulative tally of $85.5 million; and Sony Pictures' "Insidious: The Red Door," which scared up $13 million in its second weekend for a domestic total of $58.1 million.
Next weekend, get ready for the ultimate summer movie showdown as Warner Bros.' "Barbie" squares off against Universal Pictures' "Oppenheimer" in wide release.
