TOM Cruise’s film is back on top in China. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning posted the biggest opening for a US film in the country this year, defying trade and geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Paramount Global’s eighth installment in the action franchise earned $25.2 million across 11,847 locations in China during the opening weekend, the studio said in a statement. The film is likely to become the top-performing US release in the country for 2025, with Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.’s A Minecraft Movie so far holding the lead with about $29 million since its April 4 debut, according to ticketing platform Maoyan.
While the Final Reckoning opening is comparable to its 2023 predecessor, the latest film’s performance stands out in a year when most US titles have struggled to gain traction in China. Minecraft opened with $14.5 million, while Walt Disney Co.’s Thunderbolts and Lilo & Stitch brought in $10.5 million and $8.7 million, respectively, on opening weekend.
The solid performance of Cruise’s new film, which he’s said will be his last Mission: Impossible, suggests that Hollywood pictures have withstood rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies. In April, Beijing said it would “moderately reduce” the number of US films allowed into the market as part of a broader response to trade friction. While initial negotiations between Washington and Beijing began shortly after, talks have since stalled.
The Mission: Impossible series, starring Cruise as secret agent Ethan Hunt, has long been emblematic of China’s enthusiasm for Hollywood. In 2018 — when US films reached a peak share of the Chinese market — the sixth installment of the franchise opened to around $77 million in China. But that momentum slowed after the first Trump administration sparked off a trade clash, leading to fewer releases and diminished returns.
Under the Chinese government’s national agenda to boost consumption, China has been gradually allowing more foreign films in an effort to help stimulate spending while moviegoers are visiting theaters at malls. –BLOOMBERG
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