Reports have 20th Century Fox’s Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz action-comedy Knight and Day earning $3.8 million for its Wednesday opening. Over at Variety, Andrew Stewart calls this a “solid jump start.” Over at Deadline, Nikki Finke calls it “a failing grade.” Which one is it?
Looking at the list of top opening Wednesdays, Box-Office Mojo stops their list at $6 million so I’m not sure how Stewart thinks $3.8 is a “solid jump start.” Recent releases such as Four Christmases opened at $6 million, Tropic Thunder opened at $6.5 and Public Enemies opened at $8.1. Of that bunch Four Christmases became the biggest five-day earner with $46 million, Public Enemies and Tropic Thunder followed in line with $40 and $36 million respectively.
Averaging those returns out it means we are talking about a 6-times multiplier for the five-day. Should we expect a total of $22.8 million from the new Tom Cruise movie after five days? Personally I really liked the film and would recommend people see it, but I must say, this isn’t a great start. I wonder though, will people flock to Grown Ups instead of Knight and Day?
Some are starting to wonder what a poor performance from Knight and Day would mean for Cruise’s Mission: Impossible IV, which is expected to be his next film reprising his role as Ethan Hunt.
At Deadline, Mike Fleming says the most likely option is to “beef up the subplot that introduces a new and younger agent who becomes Hunt’s protege. The studio could then turn the franchise into more of a two-hander than the Mission: Impossible films traditionally have been,” allowing for the franchise to possibly carry on without Cruise’s character.
In my estimation, this is a media overreaction even if it is interesting conversation. As Fleming notes in his piece, Mission: Impossible is an established franchise. And, In my opinion, no matter what happens with Knight and Day, Cruise is still a star. Also, while I enjoyed Knight and Day, a 53% RottenTomatoes rating doesn’t exactly paint a pretty picture.
In an effort to stir up some conversation… Should we expect a better result just because it stars Tom Cruise? Do you avoid movies because they star Cruise? Should Paramount actually be concerned for Mission: Impossible IV?
