If he’s still known for winning a Best Screenplay Oscar for 1995’s Usual Suspects , Christopher McQuarrie ’s next best identification is for being Tom Cruise ’s go-to-guy. Sometimes that’s as writer or script doctor, but now more commonly it’s as writer, producer, director, and being Cruise’s accomplice in problem solving the star/producer’s many complex screen vehicles. They took it to another level on Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation , a cracking good summer movie that heads into opening weekend with strong reviews and buzz, and a clear indication that the 53-year old Cruise can play Ethan Hunt for as long as he cares to risk his life with stunts no other superstar would dare try. Here, McQuarrie shares why they pair so well, and what it is like for a director to harmlessly wonder aloud if it would be possible to survive strapped to the exterior door of an airborne jet plane, and then pray that Tom Cruise is still tethered when the take is done and the plane lands. … [Read more...] about Christopher McQuarrie Q&A: On Collaborating With Tom Cruise, And Hanging Him Off A Moving Airplane
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Why Dwayne Johnson Pic ‘Skyscraper’ Went Up In Flames At The B.O. With $25M+
4th Update with Sunday AM Analysis: This weekend The Rock is getting squashed by a horde of bloodsucking vampires, as Sony Animation’s Hotel Transylvania 3 : Summer Vacation is the prime destination for families, with a studio-reported $44.1. That knocks down Dwayne Johnson ’s Skyscraper to third place, with a Universal-reported $25.4M , a low result for the action star in his recent solo PG-13 credits. The opening for HT3 currently ranks behind Hotel Transylvania 2 ‘s $48.4M, and ahead of the first installment’s $42.5M. For full Sunday analysis click here. There’s a few reasons why Skyscraper is in shambles, but chiefly, Johnson’s family crowd here is being swallowed up whole by both HT3 and the second weekend of Disney/Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp , which remains solid with an estimated $28.8M in second place. In addition, we hear Johnson’s Rampage played more family than Skyscraper. Another reality is that the last two weeks of the year brings … [Read more...] about Why Dwayne Johnson Pic ‘Skyscraper’ Went Up In Flames At The B.O. With $25M+
‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ Cruising Toward $80M+ Overseas Opening
SATURDAY AM UPDATE : Paramount /Skydance’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout continued overseas rollout on Friday, raising the cume through yesterday to $38.3M including previews. That sets the sixquel on track for a muscular $80M+ opening weekend across 36 markets at the international box office . Should that hold, along with domestic projections of $60M, the global bow is eyeing $140M+. As we noted in our global preview , anything above the $131.5M opening for 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol would rep a worldwide record start for the Tom Cruise franchise. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation opened internationally to $64.5M in unadjusted dollars. Overseas, Cruise’s latest action-packed outing as Ethan Hunt is currently running 10% ahead of Rogue Nation on a like-for-like basis (excluding previews). At today’s rates, the 2015 movie finaled with $473.2M offshore including China. Fallout has a big chunk of the world ahead of it and a China … [Read more...] about ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ Cruising Toward $80M+ Overseas Opening
‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ Jumps Higher With Record $156M Global Bow – International Box Office
MONDAY UPDATE, writethru with actuals : Paramount Pictures/Skydance’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout lit the fuse this weekend with an action-packed $155.83M worldwide opening to rep the best start ever for the Tom Cruise franchise. Of that, $94.6M — up $2.6M from the Sunday estimate — comes from the international box office where it’s also the top launch for the spy series ($61.23M is from domestic , another franchise record). Out in just 36 markets for 40% of the offshore footprint, Fallout is currently 23% ahead of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ‘s 2015 overseas start on a like-for-like basis. As we noted in our global preview, anything above the $131.5M opening for 2011’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol reps a worldwide record start for Ethan Hunt & Co. With so much of the world to come on Fallout , including France, Japan and China (the latter dated August 31), it’s early to put a multiple on it, but $700M+ global is probable and … [Read more...] about ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ Jumps Higher With Record $156M Global Bow – International Box Office