After a middling box office run, ‘Mission: Impossible 7’ profits boosted by an insurance payout that sparked a $100 million lawsuit

As Tom Cruise’s first feature since the all-conquering Top Gun: Maverick and the latest installment in what’s quite simply evolved to become arguably the greatest action franchise of all-time, there was entirely justifiable belief that Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One would easily become the long-running saga’s biggest box office hit yet.

The $791 million of immediate predecessor Fallout seemed straightforward to beat, but with its run in theaters now dragging to a close, Cruise’s seventh outing as daredevil IMF agent Ethan Hunt will only take fourth place on the all-time earnings chart as it struggles to reach $570 million globally.

While that’s hardly an insignificant number, the fact Dead Reckoning cost an estimated $290 million before marketing and distribution costs are factored in has whittled the profit margins down a size that neither the leading man and producer or studio Paramount will be too thrilled about.

Thankfully, then, it’s been revealed that Paramount has received $71 million from insurer Chubb on account of the lengthy pandemic-era delays that saw shooting on the movie drag on for three years. Initially, the company wasn’t willing to put its hands that deep into its pockets, paying out an initial $5.5 million before the multimedia conglomerate filed a lawsuit against Chubb’s parent company because the policy covered up to $100 million.

It’s Hollywood accounting at its finest, but at least Dead Reckoning has plunged a little deeper into the black after the two parties managed to settle, even if it could be interpreted as an ominous sign for Part Two.