Tom Cruise has been on a mission to encourage fans to go to the movies to see not just his latest, "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One," but all the movies coming out this summer.
His efforts may have helped with the seventh installment of the "Mission Impossible" franchise, which premiered on Wednesday and came in at No. 1 on the box office charts.
While the thriller was the movie event of the weekend, and has so far been well received by viewers, the $56.2 million that it grossed domestically on its 3-day opening weekend came in below expectations.
The movie ticked up to $80 million upon its 5-day opening and brought in a total of $235 million worldwide.
"Mission Impossible 6" grossed $61 million during its 2018 3-day opening weekend, meaning the "Dead Reckoning" 3-day box office showing fell just short of its predecessor.
Cruise, who has starred in the "Mission Impossible" franchise since it first premiered in 1996, saw great success last summer when "Top Gun: Maverick" became his first film to cross the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office.
But even Cruise isn't immune to this summer's box office slump.
"Dead Reckoning" joins other summer blockbusters such as "The Flash," "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," and Disney's latest animated feature "Elemental" in clocking underwhelming box office figures during their respective opening weekends.
With "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie" coming out on the same day next week -- with an impressive amount of buzz for the double-feature event billed as "Barbenheimer" -- the hope is this bummer summer at the box office turns around.
