Paramount’s Mission: Impossible III debuted with $48.025 million, a solid opening yet well below industry expectations. Industry analysts had expected the movie to open in the range of Mission: Impossible II, which debuted with $57.8 million. Could Cruise’s antics in the past year or so, publicity over his romance with Katie Holmes and the tabloid blitz regarding their daughter’s birth in April have left some movie-goers burned out or disenchanted with the actor.

However experts blame high expectations “Expectations were really high for this film. I think it’s a good number, but people were obviously expecting better numbers.” Debuting in about 55 other countries, Mission: Impossible III took in $70 million, for a worldwide total of $118 million. Paramount noted that the new movie beat the $115 million worldwide debut of Mission: Impossible II in those same countries.

About Author