Hollywood action star Tom Cruise is now on a mission to nab the domestic box office crown with his latest film, "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." This is despite the recent injury-related filming delay which reportedly blows up the film's budget to a record high.
"Fallout," which is the latest installment to the commercially-successful "Mission: Impossible" film series, is now touted to win the weekend box office in North America with an expected ticket sales to fall between USD$50 million and USD$65 million, a report from Variety reads.
Cruise has already done it with 2015's "M:I - Rogue Nation" which got a USD$55.5 million-opening performance.
However, it could be a different story when it comes to the overall box office sales.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the goal is too steep for the sixth film given the recent hiccups encountered during the production stage.
Cruise, who is now 56 years old, suffered an ankle injury that forced the filming of "Fallout" to take a break for two months.
Paramount Pictures, one of the production companies, was forced to squeeze more to top off its initial budget.
The final tally values "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" USD$250 million to produce, making the title the most expensive in the franchise.
Sources close to THR however tipped that the real figure couldn't be that near the aforementioned amount when you factor in the insurance policy Cruise got for his damaged ankle.
What makes it easier for everyone to reach the July 27-outing date was the lead actor's incredible decision not to reshoot the injury scene. Instead, as added by the media outlet, Cruise chose to take the broken ankle into the final cut.
The film series reportedly earned a total of USD$2.7 billion worldwide when it first introduced Cruise's Ethan Hunt in 1996 with "Mission: Impossible." This positions the franchise in the list of the highest-grossing film series of all time.
Co-starring Cruise are recurring casts including Ving Rhames as Ethan's tech and tank support, Luther Stickell; Simon Pegg as the techie Benji Dunn; and Michelle Monaghan as Julia Meade.
Several big names joined the fray, such as the late Philip Seymour Hoffman for 2006's "M:I 3," as Owen Davian; Laurence Fishburne as Theodore Brassel; and Jeremy Renner as William Brandt in both "Ghost Protocol" and "Rogue Nation," to mention a few.
New faces are also featured in "Fallout," like "Justice League's" Henry Cavill, and Academy-Award nominee, Angela Basset.
"Mission: Impossible - Fallout" opens in theaters July 27.
