Could it be fans are growing tired of seeing too much of Tom Cruise? Between his turns on the boob-tube, scandal sheets, newspapers and talk shows hyping “Mission Impossible III,” drooling over his girlfriend Katie Holmes, his new baby and his pushy attitude about the religion of Scientology the over-exposure appears to be killing what use to be a hugh box-office draw.
Paramount Pictures was hoping that Cruise’s latest adventure thriller, and the third in the franchise, would light the fuse that would set-off a much needed summer blockbuster season, but MI: III’s weekend box-office numbers reveal more of a fizzel than a bang. It could have something to do with the timing of its release. The previous two MI flicks were released over the Memorial Day weekend, while this third endeavor has come three-weeks early.
Cruise was only able to draw about $48 million which is far less than was expected from the top-earning actor, especially with a cast that included MI alum Ving Rhames and new ultra-bad guy Phillip Seymour Hoffman. But, the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of Mr. Cruise. This movie opened in more theaters than his other two MI films, but on average grossed less.
To add insult to injury, the overall weekend box office returns for all movies were up over last year, excluding MI: III. This brings into question whether or not Cruise’s latest bang, bang blowem’ up spy thriller will reach its low-end projected goal of $200 million by year’s end.
As an aside, whereas Cruise is becoming tiring to the audiences of the Occident, in the Far East he is box-office bonanza. In China alone, MI: III grossed nearly $70 million in its first showing.
Tom, we like you, but give your fans and your career a break, stay out of site for awhile and keep your Scientology opinions to yourself. We don’t care about any of that, only your acting skills. You’re an actor that’s what we want. That’s what we pay you for.
MI: III did a lot better worldwide over the weekend than it did in the US market. Take a look at this article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4983660.stm
The US media generally seems to have a bit of a downer on Mr Cruise at the minute – perhaps it is this that is depressing his domestic takings somewhat. I would like to suggest that this is not as prevalent a view outside the US, where people are not so driven by the media fluff on the talk show and tabloid tv circuit.
The early release, missing the holiday, is obviously also going to depress takings – let see what the film does over a few weeks before urging TC to take a sabbatical, eh?
I’ll be the first to admit that I have no intentions of seeing this movie: I’m fed up with T.C. and his antics. If he weren’t a big name celeb, he probably would have been locked up in a rubber room by now.
That being said, part of me hopes this movie does well: not for T.C., but for J.J. With rumors that he will be helming the next Star Trek floating around, I’d hate for bad box office turnouts to change that.
Here’s what I have to say:
This movie is out? Now?
Guess that’s what happens when you stop listening to radio, and TiVo past all commercials on what little TV you still watch during original broadcast season.
That said, I still ain’t goin’ to it…
I still regret wasting 2 hours of my life on MI2- nothing on this earth could make me see another sequel.
These films are just Cruise doing bond, minus the charm but plus a lot of wooden posturing and over the top CGI and explosions. I mean come on… a helicopter in the eurotunnel?
I’m sick of seeing Tom Cruise…It was hard for me to even watch war of the worlds with out thinking “There’s tom cruise, they guy that’s in the news all the stinkin’ time”
so m:i-iii seems like something to wait on for me…plus, i’m not a big fan of the franchise.
–RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
RC,
I had forgotten about War of the Worlds. I can’t believe I wasted money on that movie. I know this is going to sound stupid before I even write it, but I can’t think of another way to word it: I should have known that it would center around T.C. and not around the “Martians”. Sorry, to me it seemed to be a movie about T.C. getting his kids to their mothers and, Oh, there are some aliens in it, too. If the rumors are true that T.C. will be starring in “Iron Man”, which I’m really looking forward to, I’ll have to pass.