Impossible’ Flick Stalls at Domestic Box Office

Tom Cruise is flying high in the new ‘Mission: Impossible,’ but the flick itself is already coming in for a mediocre landing at the box office … at least that’s the outlook.

The early ticket sale numbers are in, and with the pace it’s currently at right now … ‘Dead Reckoning: Part One’ is projected to rake in about $78 million domestically through its 5-day run. The movie got released early this past week, with full screenings starting Tuesday.

The problem with that figure, assuming it holds true through Sat/Sun, is that the early estimates had ‘M:I 7’ coming in at a way higher amount … about $90 mil in North America.

While the early global box office numbers have helped boost ‘Dead Reckoning’ to a total projected opening of about $122 mil thus far … the movie is still well below its reported budget of $290 million (for just Part 1, mind you). At this rate, it needs to have the kind of legs “Top Gun: Maverick” had to make its money back … let alone turn a profit.

Meanwhile, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are waiting in the wings … with both set to come out next week, and likely knocking ‘M:I 7’ down a few notches. “Barbie,” particularly, is expected to take the cake among the 3 films … with a projected domestic opening of $93 million.

Considering all the marketing that’s gone into “Barbie,” ya gotta figure their actual haul will be somewhat close to that number … not to mention whatever “Oppenheimer” snags as well.

In any case, this appears to be bad news for Tom and co. … again, only if these figures work out how they’re expected to. Funny enough, Tom has been embracing all the summer blockbusters — encouraging moviegoers to go see all the big flicks coming out, including his direct competition. He did this publicly amid reports that he was actually pissed BTS.

The irony, of course, is that Tom is a huge advocate of seeing movies in theaters … and he’s repeatedly gone on record as touting that as his ultimate goal as he continues his legacy.