Mission: Impossible 8‘s reported budget is a worrying development for the franchise after Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning​​​​​​. The two Mission: Impossible movies were originally announced as parts one and two of the same major story, signaling that the series was going bigger than ever before for what could be Tom Cruise’s final installments. This was understandable on the heels of Mission: Impossible – Fallout breaking franchise records. And even though Dead Reckoning has already been released, Mission: Impossible 8 is still filming and becoming more costly as its 2025 release date approaches.

This has led to reports that Mission: Impossible 8‘s budget is not only the highest for any movie in Tom Cruise’s franchise but that it is among the most expensive movies ever made. It has been reported that Mission: Impossible 8‘s budget is more than $300 million. Although Paramount has not confirmed these financials, the film has had a lengthy shoot as a result of multiple delays and shutdowns due to COVID-19, strikes, and other complications. With Mission: Impossible 8 breaking records with its budget, there is even greater reason to worry about the film and its chance of achieving success.

Mission: Impossible 8’s Budget Makes The Film A Much Bigger Box Office Risk

It Has A Tougher Path To Being Profitable

Now that Mission: Impossible 8‘s budget has broken past the $300 million mark, the film is a much bigger risk for the franchise. The series typically was quite smart with its budgets, but the turbulent production on the last two movies is where things got out of control. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning‘s budget was $291 million, and the film reportedly lost Paramount between $100 million and $200 million. This was even after making $567.5 million at the box office. With Mission: Impossible 8‘s budget eclipsing Dead Reckoning‘s, the sequel’s box office will also have to be substantially higher to achieve success.

The earlier entries in the series all managed to find success on some level, but Mission: Impossible 8‘s budget risks it becoming a failure. The original film made over five times its budget at the box office, and Mission: Impossible II made more than four times its cost. Even Mission: Impossible III still doubled its budget despite having the franchise’s lowest box office total. The more recent entries were all major hits even with higher budgets. Mission: Impossible 8 must achieve far bigger box office success to be a hit now, which is far from a guarantee.

Mission: Impossible 8’s Box Office Outlook Was Already Concerning After Dead Reckoning

The Franchise Could Be Losing Momentum

Even without knowing that Mission: Impossible 8 is one of the most expensive movies of all time, there was reason for concern regarding its financial outlook. The film is the second part of a two-movie story, but audiences did not turn out as expected for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. The movie’s $567.5 million box office performance was rather disappointing. It was the lowest total for any of the modern four installments and a substantial drop from how much Fallout made a few years prior.

Dead Reckoning‘s box office was even more troubling when other factors are accounted for. Tom Cruise was fresh off Top Gun: Maverick becoming a massive box office hit, so there was an expectation that audiences would be ready for another big Cruise action blockbuster. Dead Reckoning even scored franchise-high Rotten Tomatoes scores, and yet there was some disconnect between audiences’ willingness to see the movie in theaters and the film’s expected performance. If there is franchise fatigue or a decline in interest here, Mission: Impossible 8 having a better box office performance is more difficult.

How Much Mission: Impossible 8 Needs To Make To Avoid Being A Box Office Disappointment

The Budget Raises Box Office Expectations

Based on the reported $300 million budget, Mission: Impossible 8‘s box office expectations are much higher if the film is to avoid disappointment. The typical rule of thumb in Hollywood is that a film needs to double its budget to break even, while anything around two and a half or three times the cost takes the movie into profitable territory. This would mean that a $600 million worldwide total could be enough for Paramount to not deem the film as a major loss. But, it might now be required that Mission: Impossible 8 needs to make $750M-$900M at the box office to be a hit.

Dead Reckoning reportedly lost Paramount $100M-$200M after its performance in theaters, which means that film needed to make around $650-$750M to break even. The reports of Mission: Impossible 8‘s budget being even higher means that its box office also must finish with a bigger total. The upper end of the $750M-$900M range is where the sequel could find success. All that means is that Mission: Impossible 8 likely needs to become the franchise’s highest-grossing movie to achieve any level of success. That’s also assuming Mission: Impossible 8‘s cost does not continue to increase.