A Reel War: Cruise v. Nolan

One of the biggest battles in the movies is about to unfold. Not Marvel vs. DC, and not streaming vs. theatrical…but Tom Cruise vs. Christopher Nolan in the Battle for Big Screen Supremacy. 

The battleground is IMAX theatres, with Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER and the Tom Cruise-led MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING PART ONE the two warring sides. Cruise, who stars and produces the 7^th MISSION IMPOSSIBLE film (or MI:7), is reported unhappy with the IMAX plan for his film. 

MI:7 opens on July 12^th, with most of the super-sized IMAX screens in North America and elsewhere booked. Nine days later on July 21^st, Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER arrives and will take over the IMAX screens in a deal that will lock the film into the big-big-screen format for a guaranteed three weeks. This means MI:7 will be bumped out of IMAX theaters after just over one week. Cruise has been reported as “complaining loudly to Paramount executives…” about the situation. 

Both Cruise and Nolan have strong cases for having their films in IMAX theaters. Nolan has been an advocate for the IMAX format for years, with OPPENHEIMER entirely shot in the format and Nolan himself developing and inventing new technologies for IMAX that will undoubtedly move the industry forward. On the other side of the battle-lines, Cruise now has the new reputation as the man who saved Hollywood (his TOP GUN: MAVERICK brought cinema back from the brink of oblivion last year), and now has some of the heaviest punching-power and respect in the business. 

On the other hand, MI:7 is a film that was not shot for the format and will be embiggened for the mega-screen. But that doesn’t make OPPENHEIMER a clear favorite. The R-rated drama and its three-hour running time doesn’t really scream for the giant screen, which is normally reserved for action films…which is exactly what MI:7 is. Cruise can also make a case that MI:7 will likely outperform OPPENHEIMER at the box office: it’s a popular franchise, and again…full of action which is an easy draw. It’s also worth mentioning that Cruise has a lot at stake here: with a budget of $300 million (nearly three times the size as OPPENHEIMER), MI:7 will need those higher-priced IMAX tickets to turn a profit. 

In broad strokes, this is a good problem for theatres to have. Even before the mishandled pandemic nearly destroyed cinema, studios were releasing films far and away from each other, with major releases spread out weeks or even months apart. It’s refreshing to have two films from respected filmmakers that are highly anticipated competing for big screen space; we should have more movies fighting for IMAX screens. Think about the glorious year of 1982, when in that summer we had CONAN THE BARBARIAN, ROCKY III, STAR TREK II THE WRATH OF KHAN, E.T., BLADE RUNNER, POLTERGEIST, and THE THING all in theatres at the same time. Audiences like options, and options lead to more seats filled in the theatre. Whoever takes the battle between Cruise and Nolan…we still win.