'Mission' Fizzling? Box Office Imploding

Friday night's numbers are in for "Mission: Impossible III," and they aren't what Paramount or Tom Cruise might have hoped for.

The JJ Abrams-directed blockbuster took in only $17 million according to website www.boxofficemojo.com. That's a good $3 million off the lowest predictions, and $8 million off what a real mega hit would have been.

Box Office Mojo's Brandon Gray says that the weekend total should now be in the $45 million range. It's not a catastrophe by any means, but it does show that star Tom Cruise's public persona and negative publicity plus a raft of mediocre reviews for the film have put a dent in his plans to rule the universe.

Grays says the new "Mission" numbers are a disappointment because both installments 1 and 2 did much better. "They each sold around 50 percent more tickets on their opening weekends (Friday-Sunday)," Gray says, "despite opening on Wednesdays."

At this rate, Cruise may want some kind of pharmacological drug to ease the pain on Sunday night. Paramount execs definitely will.

This surprises me a little, mostly because I think Tom Cruise is a total ass monkey, and I still went to see it. I really liked it too. I learned back when "Minority Report" came out to just pretend that the guy on screen isn't an ass monkey. Apparently when celebrities are completely insane, like Cruise, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, etc., I can still watch their films. When they're hypocritical judgmental asses, like Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, and George Clooney, I would rather stab myself in the eye with a spork than pay to see them do anything. Which is good, since Damon and Clooney work together about 90% of the time now. It makes for fewer movies to avoid.