Puck says that Tom Cruise has been complaining about “Mission: Impossible’s” short IMAX window to Paramount executives and others. While Christopher Nolan is arguably the IMAX format’s number one poster child, Cruise has also advocated for it. Several of the actor’s films have been shown in IMAX, including last year’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” which made over $100 million in that format alone. IMAX has Cruise to thank as well, as “Maverick” made the company a solid chunk of change during a key fiscal quarter in 2022, per Variety.
Unfortunately, it looks like Cruise won’t get a hold of Nolan’s IMAX screens, as Universal Pictures, the studio behind “Oppenheimer,” locked them down all the way back when the World War II epic was dated. The possibility of a compromise being reached doesn’t seem likely… “Oppenheimer” holds all IMAX screens in North America and certain territories for three weeks.
This is Cruise we’re talking about – Hollywood’s last great star, who never goes down without a fight. The actor is focusing on securing as many PLF (Premium Large Format) screens that aren’t IMAX. Cruise has been showing “Dead Reckoning Part One” to exhibitors, with the hopes that they’ll screen his flick instead of “Oppenheimer,” or “Barbie,” which opens on the same day as Nolan’s latest. To show how serious he is, Cruise has been personally calling exhibitors and execs, pitching why “Dead Reckoning” is a better bet for them than “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer.”