Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation has already made a ridiculous of money. It’s still in the top five at the domestic box office - even after six weeks of release, which is regularly unheard of during summer blockbuster season. It's far from done making money, though. The movie just had one of the biggest openings in Chinese box office history.
According to The Hollywood Reporter the newest film in the Tom Cruise-led spy franchise just had the biggest opening day of any Hollywood film not in 3D. 3D is kind of a big deal in China, so it’s no great surprise that the four movies ahead of them on the country’s all-time opening list are films with an extra dimension. While Rogue Nation’s $18.5 million may not look as impressive as even Terminator:Genisys' recent $26.7 million opening in the Asian nation, but the fact that a 2D film is as high as it is on the all-time opening rankings is honestly pretty remarkable all by itself.
The aforementioned Terminator sequel has been doing big business in China for the last few weeks, but it’s likely, based on this opening, that Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is about to take over the nation’s box office. This is pretty good news for Paramount Pictures, which is actually behind the distribution of both titles. Like Genisys before it, M:I’s Chinese release was held off in order to give domestic films in the country a chance to shine. The positive side effect of this is that the big Hollywood releases are given an opportunity to have some breathing room and make some money before the next big title comes along. They might be on to something here.
As things stand, it looks like the only thing that may stand in Ethan Hunt’s way in his plan for box office supremacy in China are a bunch of little yellow Minions. The animated film from Universal Pictures, which was another big summer hit in the U.S., is set for release next weekend. It will be interesting to see how a this summer showdown plays out overseas.
The success of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is just more evidence of the power that China has in Hollywood’s balance sheet these days. The country’s box office can turn flops like Genisys into hits, and hits like Furious 7 into one of the top global movies of all time. It also shows how much China still loves many of America’s classic action stars, as Arnold and Cruise both continue to do well in the nation.
While another Mission: Impossible film was all but certain already, a big hit in China is going to make that sequel happen all that much faster, and more likely to include Chinese actors and locations.
