Mission: Impossible 8 changing its title and release date implies Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One’s failure was worse than it seemed.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’s poor box office performance had a significant impact on the series, as seen by the revelation that Mission: Impossible 8 will supposedly have a new title. The Mission: Impossible films appeared to be headed toward a seemingly unachievable box office triumph for a while. The Mission Impossible films produced more money with each subsequent release for more than a decade, although even profitable franchises normally become less profitable with each new sequel or, at most, retain their status throughout multiple episodes.
This trend seemed set to continue judging by the outsized success of Top Gun: Maverick, which starred the franchise’s leading man, Tom Cruise. However, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One instead received an underwhelming box office reception. Although Dead Reckoning Part One did earn $567 million at the box office, the movie was trounced by Barbie, which arrived only a week later. Barbie earned over $1.4 billion, dwarfing Dead Reckoning Part One’s performance. While Mission: Impossible—Fallout made a massive $791 million, its predecessor, Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation, earned an impressive $688 million. Even 2011’s Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol made over $694 million, reaffirming the disappointing status of Dead Reckoning Part One’s performance.
Mission: Impossible 8 Reportedly Getting A New Title Confirms Dead Reckoning Part One’s Box Office Letdown
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part Two was the initial title for Mission: Impossible 8, but the sequel is currently said to be changing its moniker. This strikes me as odd considering that the premise of the film is obviously a continuation of that of Dead Reckoning Part One. It will be startling and strange if the Dead Reckoning franchise does not continue after the massive cliffhanger that the first installment, which was explicitly titled “Part One,” ended on. Nevertheless, despite the favorable reviews for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, the title change for the sequel suggests that the creators felt the need to alter the franchise’s formula.
This obvious necessity for a change of direction shows that Dead Reckoning Part One wasn’t the financial smash the studios had hoped. Dead Reckoning Part One probably lost roughly $100 million since, despite having a $291 million budget, a lot more money was spent on marketing and advertising. For Cruise, who was primarily credited with revitalizing the blockbuster industry following the success of Top Gun: Maverick, this enormous loss came at a bad moment. Even a series as successful as Cruise’s espionage films can’t rest on its laurels, as evidenced by Dead Reckoning Part One’s poor result, which demonstrates that the franchise’s formula is not infallible despite earlier signs to the contrary.
Why Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Failed At The Box Office
Dead Reckoning Part One failed at the box office for a variety of reasons. However, few of these had anything to do with the movie itself. Dead Reckoning Part One’s critical and fan reception was overwhelmingly positive, which led some to expect the sequel would be Cruise’s next billion-dollar movie. However, few commentators could have predicted just how massive Barbie’s theater run would be, with the comedy single-handedly dominating the box office for much of summer. Meanwhile, Oppenheimer was far more successful than a modestly budgeted historical biopic was expected to be. Furthermore, Oppenheimer’s highly hyped competition with Barbie may have negatively impacted Dead Reckoning Part One’s publicity.
However, Dead Reckoning Part One’s underperformance was also indicative of a larger trend in 2023’s blockbusters. Although Barbie exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts for its performance, most returning franchises were met with inauspicious receptions. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts were both financial disasters, while The Flash underperformed much, much worse than Dead Reckoning Part One. Within this context, the positive reception of Dead Reckoning Part One likely helped the movie avoid this fate, but its status as a sequel still hurt its prospects compared to more successful original movies.
Can Mission: Impossible 8’s Box Office Beat Dead Reckoning Part One (& Will A New Title Help?)
While Dead Reckoning Part One’s reception was disappointing, all hope is not necessarily lost for the movie’s sequel. A new title could help Dead Reckoning Part Two’s prospects since franchises no longer seem to hold the allure they once had over audiences. If anything, brand recognition now seems to be a liability for franchises. Since the eighth Mission: Impossible movie will unavoidably be part of a famous series, the sequel doesn’t need to make matters worse by drawing attention to its status as a follow-up to a flop.
Mission: Impossible 8’s later release date may do even more to help its chances of success. Mission: Impossible 8 will feel less like an expensive television series and more like a movie series when it premieres in 2025, giving viewers more time to miss the series and its characters. By delaying the release of Mission: Impossible 8 following Mission: Impossible 7’s troubles, Tom Cruise’s spy series has shown that it still has some faith in its future. Releasing sequels quickly can come out as desperate.