Tom Cruise’s “The Mummy” made $2.66 million on Thursday night. That’s considerably less than “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation” made in its Thursday outing two years ago–$4 million. It’s more though than “Edge of Tomorrow”–$1.8 million. It’s actually far more than “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” with $1.32 million– Cruise’s most recent film.
So there’s some solace in that. But “The Mummy” will be number 2 to “Wonder Woman” this weekend. And if word of mouth doesn’t propel it past tonight, there will be a lot of jokes about mummified, it’s a wrap, walking dead, and so on.
A big hit to the box office has a lot to do with perception of Cruise by fans. By now they all know that he has had nothing to do with his 11 year old daughter Suri, based on reports. And that may be because of his devotion to Scientology, a religious cult that has now been exposed in movies like “Going Clear” and Leah Remini’s terrific TV series. Remini also wrote about Cruise’s weird life in her memoir.
All of these things add up over time. While the “Mission Impossible” series has carried him financially, Cruise otherwise struggles at the box office. “Jack Reacher 2” made just $58.6 million in the US. Even internationally it was a bust, with just $103 million. Cruise needs twice that to succeed on the bottom line. And apparently Scientology is always there with hands out waiting for more donations.
