In the race to secure IMAX screens next month, it looks like Tom Cruise has lost out to Christopher Nolan according to Variety.
The other week, we learned that the Tom Cruise-directed “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” which premieres July 12, might only occupy IMAX screens for about a week before having to abandon them.
After that, Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” got an exclusive three-week window on the giant-format exhibitor’s entire North American 401-screen footprint starting when the film opens July 21.
Cruise reportedly made calls to remind people how “Top Gun: Maverick” saved the box office and how shortening the IMAX run of “Mission” would see the “parties involved” potentially “risk losing some serious currency.”
Greta Gerwig’s star-studded ‘Barbie’ is also being barred from IMAX theaters due to Nolan’s arrangement. IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond told the trade:
“I feel sad in a way that we can’t all accommodate. I know ‘Mission: Impossible’ is going to be a really big movie. Nolan has a special place in the hearts of Imax because he uses our cameras and promotes us. It is not for us to say on what we can earn more money. I hope after the run of “Oppenheimer” we can bring “Mission” back.
As the trade indicates, although attendance has not rebounded amid the pandemic, demand to watch movies on premium large format (PLF) screens – which includes IMAX and others – has grown exponentially. .
According to IMAX, the company’s market share increased by 50% without adding new screens – while the total number of films is down 33% compared to 2019.