Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is close to both reaching a major box office milestone and surpᴀssing a previous installment. The film franchise, which is based on the 1966 espionage television series of the same name, kicked off in 1996 with Mission: Impossible, a Brian De Palma-directed movie that introduced Tom Cruise’s superspy Ethan Hunt. The star has reprised his role in every subsequent installment, with The Final Reckoning marking his eighth outing in the franchise. The movie, which also stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Pom Klementieff, and Angela Bᴀssett, is a direct follow-up to 2023’s ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning.

The Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning release debuted at No. 2 behind Lilo & Sтιтch at the domestic box office when it premiered over Memorial Day weekend, but its 3-day opening weekend gross of $64 million marked the best debut of all time for the franchise. Additionally, its worldwide debut saw it gross nearly $200 million in just three days, making it the eighth highest-grossing movie of the year (at the time) in a matter of days. Since then, the movie has continued to climb up a variety of charts at the box office, with at least one major exception.

The Final Reckoning Is Just $36 Million Away From Pᴀssing Mission: Impossible III

Mission: Impossible III Made Just $399M At The Global Box Office

At the time of writing, per The Numbers, The Final Reckoning has earned $363 million worldwide. While it remains the lowest-grossing installment of the franchise so far, it is only $36 million away from surpᴀssing Mission: Impossible III, which grossed $399 million worldwide against a reported budget of roughly $186 million. Given the fact that The Final Reckoning is entering its third weekend in theaters, it seems that it will not take longer than a few days for it to pᴀss the 2006 installment. Below, see a breakdown of the box office performance of the previous seven Mission: Impossible movies:

Beyond Mission: Impossible III lies the first two installments, as the initial trilogy has remained the lowest-grossing set of entries in the franchise without adjusting for inflation. However, ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Reckoning Part One became the lowest-grossing installment since 2006 during its disappointing theatrical run, which saw it earn just $565.7 million worldwide. This has increased the pressure on The Final Reckoning to perform and improve its own standing among the franchise as a whole.

Mission: Impossible 8 Is Likely To Hit $400M

$400M Is Also The Reported Budget For The Final Reckoning

Once the 2025 movie surpᴀsses the third installment, there will be less than $1 million to go before it crosses the $400 million milestone, which is a feat that only four other movies have accomplished so far in 2025. This will see the movie making back its production costs, because the reported budget of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is a whopping $400 million, which makes it one of the 10 most expensive movies of all time.

However, there is still a long way to go for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Because theaters keep half of ticket sales and publicity costs are not factored into production budgets, movies typically need to earn at least two and a half times their price tags in order to turn a profit at the box office. This rule of thumb could mean that the new movie’s estimated break-even point is roughly $1 billion, which is a total that no installment has ever earned so far.

Can The Final Reckoning Surpᴀss More Mission: Impossible Movies?

It May Not Rise As High As Expected

Not only is it doubtful that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning will break even in theaters, it is becoming increasingly unclear how high it will climb up the franchise ranking, as it has fallen significantly behind the trajectory of the highest-grossing installment, Fallout, after earning the best opening weekend of the franchise. While it will most likely continue to climb past further installments, especially the first two movies, it seems more likely that it will end up toward the middle of the pack rather than breaking any more records.

Source(s): The Numbers

Enjoy ScreenRant’s box office coverage? Click below to sign up for my weekly box office newsletter (make sure to check “Box Office” in your preferences) and get exclusive analysis, predictions, and more:

Sign Up