Next month marks a showdown between three of the year’s biggest blockbusters at the box office. First up, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” arrives on July 12, followed by Greta Gerwig‘s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan‘s “Oppenheimer” on July 21. One of those three films will undoubtedly be the movie of the summer. But Tom Cruise isn’t fazed by the competition against his latest film. In fact, he fully endorses moviegoers to see them, and in a double feature, preferably.
Vanity Fair reports that Cruise tweeted a pic of himself and “Dead Reckoning” director Christopher McQuarrie holding movie tickets for “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer” and “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.” “This summer is full of amazing movies to see in theaters,” reads the accompanying statement. “Congratulations, Harrison Ford, on 40 years of Indy and one of the most iconic characters in history.” Then Cruise boosted the two films his franchise will face off against next month. “I love a double feature, and it doesn’t get more explosive (or more pink) than one with “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie.””
It’s not surprising that Cruise is going out of his way to promote movies that his latest “Mission: Impossible” will battle at the box office. After all, according to Steven Spielberg, the actor “saved Hollywood’s ass” last year with “Top Gun: Maverick,” the success of which assuaged the fears of many that movie theaters may not fully recover after the COVID-19 pandemic. And while box office numbers still aren’t back to pre-pandemic levels, Cruise’s star power is a big reason why they’re not as bad as they once were.
But Cruise isn’t the only actor advocating for the “Barbie”/”Oppenheimer” double feature idea. Matt Damon, who plays General Leslie Graves in Nolan’s latest, brought up the two blockbusters releasing the same day at the premiere of “Air” earlier this year. “People are allowed to go see two movies in a weekend. “Oppenheimer” is one of them!,” Damon joked. But Damon also said his daughters may be more keen on seeing “Barbie” than his new movie. “I’ll have to ask them that,” the actor said, “If that’s the case, they’ll see two movies that weekend.”
Whichever film emerges victorious at summer’s end, 2023 is one of the biggest movie summers of recent years. Surely one of the three films premiering next month will overtake “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” as this year’s highest-grossing film. But the question remains: which one? Tom Cruise may not be as sure a bet as James Cameron, but after the success of “Top Gun: Maverick” last year, who’s foolish enough to bet against “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”?