Life is currently good for Tom Cruise, Paramount and the Mission Impossible franchise. As Fallout (the sixth instalment in the 22 year old series) wraps up its theatrical run. let’s sum up it’s impressive run. Fallout enjoyed the largest opening in Mission Impossible history (61.2 million) and was king of Hollywood’s box office hill two weeks in a row. It has grossed more than 200 million dollars domestically and has an outside shot at surpassing 2000’s Mission Impossible 2 as the franchise’s top domestic earner. Fallout is also be the first Mission Impossible title to earn over 700 million worldwide, collecting more than 720 million globally to date. On top off all those dollars, Fallout is also basking in the glow of strong reviews and great word of mouth, something virtually unheard of for a movie franchise that’s older than most of its target audience.
Which all means it’s time to wrap it up.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked Fallout. It was a solid action flick that pushed its fair share of boundaries. Everyone involved in the MI series should get a giant sized pat on the back and Tom Cruise is at the very head of that class. Regardless of what you think of him, Cruise has been a Hollywood A-lister for over 30 thirty years, surviving notoriously fickle audiences and PR snafus that would have ended plenty of other careers. Paramount even flirted with replacing him as the face of the franchise a few years ago (when his jumping fit on Oprah’s couch was the persistent talk of tinsel town). But Cruise pulled through and deserves extra kudos for doing so much of his own stunt work.
But behind Fallout’s success and all the accolades the franchise has earned lie the reasons why the powers that be should call it a day.
While Fallout should be proud of it’s financial success, its spreadsheet needs some context. While it’s owns the eighth highest premiere of 2018 and is currently the eighth highest grossing movie of 2018, there’s a good chance it won’t appear on wither of those top ten lists by year’s end. Meaning that while there is still a strong demand for Ethan Hunt’s adventures, Mission impossible doesn’t enjoy the same demand that the MCU, Pixar, CGI dinosaurs or the Potterverse do. And if Warner Bros. has finally course corrected the DCEU (and after last July’s San Diego Comic Con, it looks like it may have), Mission Impossible will get pushed even further down the franchise totem pole.
And not only are these movies expensive to produce, but they’re getting pricier. Despite Fallout’s record breaking business, it’s widely believed it will only break even based on its box office performance and will need to rely on streaming and home release dollars to turn a profit.
A big part of that equation is its star. Remember when I congratulated Cruise for his stunt work earlier? Well that’s a double edged sword. Fallout’s production budget is officially listed at 178 million dollars, the most of any entry so far. And that’s before a nine figure advertising and promotion budget. But an ankle injury Cruise suffered during filming not only added significant time to the production, it also drove the movie’s price tag north of 200 million. Cruise is currently 56 and will be pushing 60 by the time a possible Mission Impossible 7 comes out. Considering his penchant for doing his own stunt work, lengthy (and expensive) injuries are more and more likely.
The question then becomes, will audiences still want to see Cruise if he isn’t performing his trademark stunt work after age inevitably forces him to leave that up to the stunt men? Will we really want to see Cruise taking on all comers when he’s old enough to get the seniors discount at Denny’s?
Video: Paramount Pictures
But something else became apparent watching Fallout; Mission Impossible feels like its about to run out of tricks. We’ve seen Ethan scale mountains and impossibly tall skyscrapers. We’ve seen him dangle from jets and helicopters and even dodge cars raining from the sky. We’ve seen him hide behind holograms, trick confessions out of mastermind villains and erase people from existence. We’ve seen dogfights, car chases, gunfights and fisticuffs galore, often with unique twists and memorable gimmicks. We’ve witnessed cons, deceptions, mind games and movies within movies. But it’s begun to feel like the creative well may be running dry. And if that is the case, how long until the franchise descends into embarrassment and self parody?
Fallout contained a few moments of closure for Ethan and his cohorts and I wouldn’t be against one final movie to close the circle. One last movie that pulls out all the stops, doesn’t leave anything on the table and sends the entire gang into the sunset with one last, explosive (and memorable) adventure. But make it as certain as farewells go, final and irreversible.
Because at the end of the day, it would be a shame to see such a strong property crumble into stale, boring territory. How many times have we seen entertaining, riveting and original franchises reduced to cringeworthy and pale excuses of their former selves while desperately chasing that box office lightning?
So its time for Mission Impossible to go out while it’s on top (or as high as it can go). It has enjoyed a shelf life longer than many modern properties and it has done so with merit instead of name recognition (looking at you Transformers). So its time to take a momentous bow and close up shop.
Because a strong franchise deserves to end on an even stronger note instead of just fading away.
Image: Paramount Pictures
