The IMAX screen situation starts to look more like an assassination: Oppenheimer will keep the screens until fall, and for Dead Reckoning Part I, it’s a proper disaster.
When you hear about a 3-hour-long biopic about a physicist, you don’t exactly get overly excited and rush to your local theater.
But as you learn that the physicist in question is Robert J. Oppenheimer, the movie is directed by Christopher Nolan, and the lead actor is Cillian Murphy, the situation changes dramatically, doesn’t it?
In an unexpected turn of events, Nolan’s latest movie, despite the less-than-exciting premise, becomes immensely popular with the general audience.
The movie has already rushed through the half-a-bill mark and is currently sitting at a whopping $556M box office revenue worldwide. The people are ecstatic, and the theaters are overflowing.
Curiously enough, it seems like Oppenheimer has no intention to finish its rampage. The good people of America are sharing that in some parts, the movie’s overbooked for weeks to come, and they can’t buy their tickets, which is a clear indication that even more folks are waiting for their chance to watch Nolan’s film in 70mm.
In response to that, the IMAX executives decided to extend Oppenheimer’s run on their screens for the second (!) time, and now the movie’s run is scheduled to leave the theaters on August 31, 2023.
This is an insanely long run in itself, and while it’s fantastic for director Nolan, there are some…victims of this decision.
Tom Cruise’s latest Mission: Impossible installment, Dead Reckoning Part I, was swiftly booted out of the theaters just one week after the release as Oppenheimer exclusively occupied all the IMAX screens, and Barbie stole a massive chunk of all other screens. For Cruise, that was a tragedy and a half.
Thanks to the pandemic, the production of M:I7 turned out incredibly expensive, and that one week in theaters was nowhere near enough to break even.
Upon learning about his movie’s approaching fate, Cruise tried to negotiate better terms with cinema owners and IMAX bosses, but unfortunately for him, he failed.
The IMAX execs promised they’d welcome Dead Reckoning back on their screens after Oppenheimer’s run, and while it was a weak consolation, it was at least something.
But with Oppenheimer’s extended run on the IMAX screens, Tom Cruise’s latest movie’s fate is properly sealed…and we just witnessed a murder.