Posted on 06/25/2010 6:07:51 AM PDT by C19fan
While 20th Century Fox is the studio sweating it out hoping Knight and Day overcomes lackluster tracking to turn in respectable 5-day opening numbers, Paramount brass is paying close attention. That’s because the studio just received the screenplay for the new Mission: Impossible 4 penned by Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec. I've learned that Brad Grey and Rob Moore are reading the script over the next few days and figuring out the preliminary budget next week on the Brad Bird-directed fourquel. Cruise reprises his Ethan Hunt role and produces with MI3 director JJ Abrams. But what effect if any will Knight and Day’s box office have on the new pic? Paramount insiders tell me no decisions have been made yet. But Hollywood has been buzzing that the studio might kill MI4 if Knight doesn't connect with audiences despite Cruise's action hero character.
(Excerpt) Read more at deadline.com ...
I thought he held the record for most $100 million+ movies in a row. How do think he got so famous, by dancing in his underwear? Nicole Kidman, OTOH, I don't see how she gets hired by anyone.
I’m just tired of Cruise.
Why are all the movies either remakes or sequels?!!? There is no originality. The best movies so far are the ones that are made based on a children’s book, seems like.
Cruise’s new movie just looks like a Mission: Impossible rip-off anyway.
The guy’s a very decent actor, but I think that the public now has a much harder time seeing him as some sort of super bad-ass after watching him bounce on Oprah’s couch, etc.
You know...sorta kills the image/myth.
The MI series had such potential. And Cruise did a decent job as Ethan Hunt. But why do modern movies have to be ruled by special effects so over the top that you can’t suspend disbelief enough to follow.
The scene that sticks out in my mind, 2 motorcycles heading toward each other at a high rate of speed, and the riders jump off and collide in mid air. The riders then fall to the ground and begin fighting. In reality, if that happened, you’d have to have a 3rd party to separate the pieces of mangled rider out of a big clump.
Lemme guess... in MI4 a no-name politician with questionable American heritage seeks to win the Presidency of the United States. Ethan’s mission is to expose and eliminate the Manchurian Candidate for President.
I think I see the problem. The story is not believable.
I think he’s a horrible actor - very flat.
That stuff always convinces me that phones calls have been placed, product is being pushed, an actor's career is attempting a revival.
I think "Knight and Day" may be Cruise's last chance. If it sinks, the studios will wash their hands of him.
Sheesh!
Box Office Poison: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL0WayC7jW0 relevant part starts at 2:24.
On topic, nobody has ever been able to coherently explain the the logic of the first Mission: Impossible movie to me. The whole Drake Hotel / Gideon Bible business makes no sense at all.
I agree over the top special effects don’t impress infact it makes most movies like cartoons
Instead of killing MI4 why not hire somebody who can act?
Outstanding..............!
I love a good laugh in the morning.....HA!
After what they did to the Jim Phelps character in the first movie, piss on Tom Cruise. I’ll never watch another Mission Impossible movie
MI I and MI II were good - I preferred Number II as it was directed by John Woo. III was terrible and if they had any sense they’d stop right there.
Cruise is nothing but green screen posing.
Box office poison? LMAO
Right.
Date Title (click to view) Studio Lifetime Gross / Theaters Opening / Theaters
6/23/10 Knight & Day Fox $3,810,649 3,098 n/a 3,098
12/25/08 Valkyrie UA $83,077,833 2,838 $21,027,007 2,711
8/13/08 Tropic Thunder P/DW $110,515,313 3,473 $25,812,796 3,319
11/9/07 Lions for Lambs UA $15,002,854 2,216 $6,702,434 2,215
5/5/06 Mission: Impossible III Par. $134,029,801 4,059 $47,743,273 4,054
6/29/05 War of the Worlds Par. $234,280,354 3,910 $64,878,725 3,908
8/6/04 Collateral DW $101,005,703 3,205 $24,701,458 3,188
12/5/03 The Last Samurai WB $111,127,263 2,938 $24,271,354 2,908
7/26/02 Austin Powers in Goldmember
(Cameo) NL $213,307,889 3,613 $73,071,188 3,613
6/21/02 Minority Report Fox $132,072,926 3,001 $35,677,125 3,001
4/19/02 Space Station 3-D (IMAX)
(Narrator) Imax $81,957,104 64 $489,488 24
12/14/01 Vanilla Sky Par. $100,618,344 2,842 $25,015,518 2,742
5/24/00 Mission: Impossible II Par. $215,409,889 3,669 $57,845,297 3,653
12/17/99 Magnolia NL $22,455,976 1,086 $193,604 7
7/16/99 Eyes Wide Shut WB $55,691,208 2,483 $21,706,163 2,411
12/13/96 Jerry Maguire Sony $153,952,592 2,531 $17,084,296 2,531
5/22/96 Mission: Impossible Par. $180,981,856 3,012 $45,436,830 3,012
11/11/94 Interview with the Vampire WB $105,264,608 2,604 $36,389,705 2,604
7/2/93 The Firm Par. $158,348,367 2,393 $25,400,000 2,393
12/11/92 A Few Good Men Col. $141,340,178 2,201 $15,517,468 1,925
5/22/92 Far and Away Uni. $58,883,840 1,885 $10,194,520 1,583
6/29/90 Days of Thunder Par. $82,670,733 2,307 $15,490,445 2,307
12/22/89 Born on the Fourth of July Uni. $70,001,698 1,434 $172,021 5
12/16/88 Rain Man MGM $172,825,435 1,590 $7,005,719 1,248
7/29/88 Cocktail BV $78,222,753 1,462 $11,789,466 1,404
10/17/86 The Color of Money BV $52,293,982 1,205 $6,357,877 635
5/16/86 Top Gun Par. $176,786,701 1,531 $8,193,052 1,028
4/18/86 Legend Uni. $15,502,112 1,187 $4,261,154 1,187
10/21/83 All the Right Moves Fox $17,233,166 909 $1,625,486 442
8/5/83 Risky Business WB $63,541,777 1,137 $4,275,327 670
4/8/83 Losin’ It Emb $1,246,141 180 $437,257 180
3/25/83 The Outsiders WB $25,697,647 1,002 $5,068,165 829
12/9/81 Taps Fox $35,856,053 792 $93,005 3
7/17/81 Endless Love Uni. $31,184,024 - $4,163,623 574
Note: Titles in grey are cameo or bit parts and not counted in totals and averages.
Lifetime Gross Total (30): $2,799,232,439
Average: $93,307,748
Opening Gross Average (25): $21,681,295 (Wide Releases Only)
I wouldn’t say poison, he’s had plenty of stuff be successful. The primary problem with MI3 was it was just too expensive, with a $150 million budget it would have had to be the most successful film of the franchise to break even, most franchises the higher the number of the film the lower the number of the grosses. Had MI3 cost $80 million like MI1 it would have broken even.
The problem with MI* is not Tom Cruise’s fault, it’s the studio’s. The Studios are little more than graverobbers. They buy the rights to a series, then slap a stupid script on it that has nothing to do with the movie.
What made the original succeed was a great cast and sheer luck. The series was about the three Bs (no, not those three Bs) Brains, brawn, and beauty. The movies have failed because the scripts have not even come close to the original series.
You never find another Martin Landau (and those classic Brioni shirts), Greg Morris (who chained smoke through ever episode), and of course the honeytrap I always wanted to step in, even as a 6 year old, Barbara Bain. The show is too intelligent for movie goers today.
The last MI-* I saw infuriated me when the bad guy was of course the US.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.