Tom Cruise Dominates Paramount+ With 6 Movies All Trending (but There’s a Clear #1)

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According to FlixPatrol, which measures the popularity of titles on various streaming services, Cruise is dominating the Paramount+ top 10 lists. As of this writing, there are four Mission: Impossible movies in the top 10 worldwide, with latest installment The Final Reckoning leading the way. The others on the list are Mission: Impossible II (No. 6), Rogue Nation (No. 8) and Fallout (No. 9). The Final Reckoning is also the No. 2 movie on Paramount+ in the United States, trailing only the underrated Channing Tatum film Roofman.

The list has since changed, but on December 17th, Cruise had even more movies in the domestic top 10: American Made (No. 6), Jack Reacher (No. 7), and Top Gun: Maverick (No. 9). The only one of those still remaining as of this writing is Maverick, which climbed up to sixth place.

Why Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning Is Dominating the Paramount+ Charts

After playing in theaters over the summer, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is now available on various home media platforms. Following a PVOD release in August and the Blu-ray release in October, the film finally hit Paramount+ on December 4th. Since it’s a relatively new addition to the streaming service, it isn’t surprising to see it’s risen to the top spot on the chart. Subscribers have probably been looking forward to The Final Reckoning‘s arrival for awhile and made a point to cue it up as soon as possible. This could also explain why so many other Mission: Impossible movies have seen a resurgence in viewership. After watching The Final Reckoning, fans may want to go back and rewatch the earlier installments.

The Final Reckoning may not have been the biggest box office hit in the Mission: Impossible franchise, but its billing as the grand finale to the long-running series may have also contributed to its popularity on Paramount+. Since this marked the end of Ethan Hunt’s journey, The Final Reckoning felt more like appointment viewing than some of the other Mission: Impossible installments. It attempted to tie together plot threads and characters from previous entries (to varying degrees of success), and people were probably curious to see how director Christopher McQuarrie tried to pull that off.

The other takeaway from these streaming numbers is that even though Cruise isn’t the box office draw he was back in the ’80s and ’90s (outside of tentpole franchise fare), audiences are still very much interested in his films. American Made, an underrated crime dramedy that takes cues from Martin Scorsese films, is exactly the kind of project that’s a tricky sell at theaters in today’s landscape but can easily find an audience on streaming. Cruise remains a recognizable and popular star, so seeing his face on artwork is enough to convince people to push play and check out something that might have slipped under their radar.

With Cruise movies remaining a draw in general, it’s easy to see why he continues to headline exciting projects. Paramount, which is clearly reaping the fruits of its collaborations with Cruise, has a third Top Gun in development, which would be a major addition to Paramount+ if it ever does come to fruition. Cruise’s next film is actually part of his new development deal with Warner Bros.: Alejandro G. Iñárittu’s dark comedy Digger. Even if that movie isn’t the biggest box office hit, it will likely be popular on streaming. With the way the film industry landscape has changed, box office isn’t the end all be all anymore. There are different ways for a film to be a success.

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