Mission: Impossible 6 Budget: How Much Did It Cost To Make?

Screen Rant

How Much Did Mission: Impossible - Fallout Cost To Make?

By Chris Agar

Published Jul 25, 2018

The Mission: Impossible franchise keeps getting bigger with each installment, and that apparently means the budget rises too.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout will go down as the most expensive installment in the franchise. The sixth entry in the long-running spy series is about to hit theaters, and by all accounts, it's another winner for Tom Cruise and company. Early reviews point to Fallout being one of the greatest action films in recent memory, and box office projections have it pegged to earn the largest opening weekend in Mission: Impossible history. For a cinematic property that's 22 years old, those are impressive accomplishments.

Fallout poised to be one of the summer's biggest hits is a great development for Paramount, as many know these movies aren't cheap to make. Mission: Impossible never sports a price tag in the range of something like Avengers: Infinity War, but the last few have all cost the studio around $150 million. For Fallout, director Christopher McQuarrie wanted to go bigger and bolder, and as a result, the film need to make a pretty penny at the box office in order to turn a profit.

Via THR, Mission: Impossible - Fallout's production budget is in the neighborhood of $250 million, which is the same estimate as Solo: A Star Wars Story. That's $100 million more than 2015's Rogue Nation, which McQuarrie also directed. J.J. Abrams' Mission: Impossible III also cost $150 million, while John Woo's Mission: Impossible II sported a budget of $125 million. By comparison, Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible was made for peanuts at $80 million. All of these figures are unadjusted for inflation.

The main reason for Fallout costing so much more is the eight-week layoff that happened when Cruise broke his ankle while performing a stunt on-set. It was necessary for Paramount to pay the cast and crew during this time to ensure nobody left the film to take on a different project. Despite the setback, McQuarrie and his team were able to complete Fallout on time and meet the scheduled release date. It's worth pointing out that the "real costs" of the movie are said to be about $180 million, since insurance will cover additional costs from the injury delay. Because Cruise was hurt while making Fallout, Paramount can make a claim. Either way, the sequel's budget is larger than any of its predecessors and other summer tentpoles, like Ant-Man and the Wasp and even Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Paramount would certainly prefer that $180 million number be the actual budget, as that would make it easier for Fallout to turn a profit. In the event the costs are $180 million, the movie would have to earn approximately $360 million globally to break even. Considering Fallout's enthusiastic word-of-mouth and the fact the previous two installments have made well over $600 million, it should be able to cross that mark with ease. But if the budget is really closer $250 million, then that break even point skyrockets to $500 million. While Fallout would likely still be in the black by the end of its run, its profit margin wouldn't be quite as wide. Fortunately, it should go down as a success either way.