Box Office: Can 'Mission: Impossible 8' Fight the Friction?

The global decline of 'Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning' compared to Tom Cruise's three prior sequels was less about #Barbenheimer and more about China and Russia.

Whether or not the first trailer for Mission: Impossible - No Longer Dead Reckoning Part II drops specifically on November 11, as reported elsewhere, I imagine there’s a 0.001% chance that Paramount doesn’t drop the teaser alongside the global debut of Gladiator II. However, even if the first reveals successfully quickens the pulse and raises the excitement level around this eighth and allegedly final Ethan Hunt adventure, the question of whether Mission: Impossible 8 can mount a box office comeback compared to Dead Reckoning is more complicated than “no #Barbenheimer” or even “more Imax exclusivity.” It’s not a matter of making up lost ground but also outperforming its predecessors. Blame the swift loss of Imax and PLF auditoriums, or blame #Barbenheimer. Still, a critical variable - zero revenue from Russia and a massive downturn in China - won’t be so easily “solved.”