When Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One released back in July 2023, Tom Cruise found himself facing an unexpected and rather frustrating hurdle. Despite being one of Hollywood’s most vocal advocates for the theatrical experience and premium formats like IMAX, Cruise had to watch helplessly as Oppenheimer, helmed by Christopher Nolan — another staunch IMAX loyalist — swept up most of the coveted IMAX screens within just ten days of Dead Reckoning’s release. Nolan’s exclusive three-week deal with IMAX left Cruise’s blockbuster scrambling for prime real estate, triggering reported heartburn within the Mission: Impossible camp.At the time, insiders noted Cruise’s disappointment. After all, he had been championing the cause of big-screen spectacles, urging audiences back to cinemas post-pandemic, only to be edged out by another director’s IMAX-first strategy. The timing couldn’t have been worse for Dead Reckoning, a film tailor-made for the larger-than-life experience that IMAX offers.Fast forward to 2025, and it seems Cruise took that hard lesson to heart. Word on the street is that for Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning, Cruise has secured an exclusive three-week IMAX window — a strategic coup that ensures the film will dominate premium screens until June 13. Only then will DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon reboot step in to claim its share of the IMAX pie.It’s a move that signals Cruise’s astute understanding of the modern box office battleground, where premium formats can make a crucial difference in opening numbers and overall grosses. More importantly, it’s a moment of poetic symmetry — what went around in 2023 has now come around in 2025. Cruise, who once ceded ground to Nolan, now finds himself in the driver’s seat.One might wonder why movie stars crave for IMAX screens which have a very limited presence across the globe- at last count it has less than 2000 screens. But as per current trends, these screens provide as much as 10 % of total box office revenue, thus making it a good business decision.Final reckoning which also stars Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Esai Morales and Pom Klementieff has already corssed US $ 100 million in USA.
