On 02.06.23 we reported on this story. In recent weeks, there’s been a fight for IMAX brewing between Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” and Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning.” Both parties want their fair share of IMAX screens.
A Puck report stated that Cruise was reportedly very unhappy with Nolan. He was “furiously” showing his film to exhibitors in an effort to convince them to switch from “Oppenheimer.”
Cruise was said to be very frustrated about the situation. He apparently complained "loudly" to Paramount about it and begged the studio and theater executives to switch their plans, trying to open up as many premium large format screens as possible for ‘Dead Reckoning’.
At the center of the drama are the 401 North American IMAX screens, that’s what’s at stake. However, Nolan seems to have won this battle, handily. He’s too interconnected with the company, their past is richly filled with friendship and loyalty.
According to Variety, the result is that ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ will only be playing on IMAX screens for one week, before it relinquishes ALL of its showtimes to “Oppenheimer” the following week. A brutal loss for Cruise.
Last year, Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” earned $100 million on IMAX screens alone. The reason why IMAX is siding with Nolan is because he called first dibs months before Cruise’s film did. “Oppenheimer” announced its release date a few weeks before ‘Mission: Impossible 7’.
“Universal had already ironed out a rare agreement for “Oppenehimer” to control Imax’s entire North American footprint for three full weeks.”
Despite all that, ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ will probably make much more money at the box-office than Nolan’s R-rated 3-hour biopic. Like, a lot more. Probably double the gross of Nolan’s film.
We should also mention that IMAX prints of Nolan’s are said to be composed of 11 miles of film stock that weigh around 600 pounds.