Why Cruise, Pitt Can’t Defy Hollywood Economics
'F1®,' 'Mission: Impossible' crushed by industry's nagging addiction
If Tom Cruise is the Last Movie Star, Brad Pitt is a close runner-up.
The veteran actors command fat paychecks, A-list directors and their choice of lead roles. Both are in their early 60s, but age hasn’t dimmed their appeal.
The proof? Their respective summer releases are drawing huge crowds. Yet the industry’s brutal economic picture means their efforts may be in vain.
At least for studio bean counters.
Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” has generated nearly $576 million at global movie theaters. That’s the most since 2018’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” ($786 million), the sixth film in the saga.
Now, compare that to “Final Reckoning’s” budget, which several outlets estimate at $400 million. Films often need to make twice their budget at the box office to break even.
And sometimes more. The math isn’t working for Ethan Hunt and friends.
The same is true for “F1®.” The Pitt Formula 1 vehicle opened to a heady $57 million stateside June 25, the best number for an original film this year. It’s earned an impressive $293 million in total to date, but that figure will keep falling as new Summer releases hit theaters.
The Man of Steel makes his cinematic return on July 11, for starters. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” follows two weeks later (July 25). A blend of kiddie fare (“The Smurfs”) and horror reboots (“I Know What You Did Last Summer”) flesh out the month.
Currently, “Jurassic World Rebirth” is sucking up most of the film oxygen – the seventh film in the saga may break the $140 million mark at U.S. theaters alone by Monday.
Director Joseph Kosinski’s race car drama has a budget between $200 million and $300 million, depending on which source you trust. Either way, the numbers can’t be crunched enough to see a profit.
The only hope? The film has “Top Gun: Maverick”-sized legs.
Now, Apple is behind “F1®,” and industry wisdom says the company sees high-profile films to be part of its brand extension. That means Apple brass can allegedly swallow hard at losing money, knowing it’s making a play for the bigger movie pie.
The bottom line remains cold and unflinching. Modern movies cost too much, in general, and even “successful” films struggle to make a profit. Remember how the 2016 flop “Ghostbusters” earned universal mockery? It still made $229 million at the global box office, but its bloated budget doomed its fate.
This problem isn’t new, but it is getting worse.
If Cruise and Pitt can’t drag blockbuster films into the black, what chance do the new kids on the block stand?
I do love great H’wood movies. In the last 5 years, I’m streaming far more new movies than taking in the theater experience (I have a great home system) since I can pause if I need to and attend to other duties/responsibilities I have – a ‘rescue zoo’ of sorts.
However, my video diet definitely consists of more foreign TV series and movies than ever before – they often have excellent acting by ‘unknowns’, feature rather unique plot lines, and utilize superb cinematography. I still think the timeliness of the Norwegian series “Occupied” was prescient and underappreciated.
Hollywood can’t get Gen Y and Z off their devices.
Hollywood continues to betray Gen X (the generation that grew up with and fueled the rise of Marvel and Star Wars) at every turn with once beloved but now race/gender/orientation swapped characters that serve only as propaganda tools for the Left.
Hollywood wants to rainbow the minds of Gen Alpha – but protective parents won’t allow it so they don’t bring their kids to the theater.
That leaves Boomers……Aging. Dying. Disappearing Boomers. (A metaphor for the industry.)
I am a Boomer American and will outlive your mRNA-addled azz. I will swing by your grave and gift it a concentrated urine shower.
Good Lord. I was making a comment about market segments and you devolved into insults. I’m mRNA free, have life span and age on my side, and there’s no way I beat you to the grave with all that hypertension boiling inside of you. Stay on point. Of the generations listed above, only Boomers still go to the movies. Boomers will all be gone in approximately 15-20 years. Between streaming, franchise destruction, and the passing of the “Me generation” that’s how long Hollywood has before the industry starts making funeral arrangements.