Tom Cruise's 5-Word Response to Historic ‘Mission: Impossible’ Box Office Record

Memorial Day Weekend brought good news for Ethan Hunt.

Tom Cruise spent Memorial Day weekend proving that no mission is impossible for Ethan Hunt—particularly when it comes to the box office.

Between Lilo & Stitch, Disney’s newest live-action adaptation, and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, the box office was on fire this holiday weekend. With an overall domestic haul of $322 million, Lilo, Stitch, and Tom led what went down as the biggest Memorial Day weekend in box office history.

19 Years Later, ‘Final Reckoning’ Retcons an Underrated ‘Mission: Impossible’ Sequel

While Lilo & Stitch accounted for more than half of that sum with its $183 million weekend, the eighth film in the Mission: Impossible saga brought in a not-too-shabby $77 million. Cinema holdovers including Final Destination Bloodlines, Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners contributed to the box office milestone.

0:09
/
0:09

Boil Water Advisory in Richmond, VA: City Releases Map & TimelineBoil Water Advisory in Richmond, VA: City Releases Map & Timeline

Cruise was feeling the love, and made sure to let both his fans and the team that helped bring what very well could be the last Mission: Impossible movie to the big screen know how much he appreciates their support.

On Tuesday morning, Cruise posted a message to his Instagram in which he declared the weekend “one for the history books!”

“Congratulations and thank you to every filmmaker, every artist, every crew member and every single person who works at the studios,” Cruise wrote. “To every theater and every employee who helps bring these stories to audiences, thank you.”

After thanking everyone at Paramount Pictures and Skydance for their “many years of partnership and unwavering support,” Cruise saved the biggest thanks for last:

“And most of all, THANK YOU to audiences everywhere—for whom we all serve and for whom we all LOVE to entertain,” he wrote.

As Deadline reports, Mission: Impossible’s success stretched far beyond the United States. Worldwide, the movie bagged a total of $204 million in ticket sales.

Though Ethan Hunt’s latest adventure has been hit with mixed reviews—it currently holds an 80 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which puts it in the bottom half of the franchise’s rankings—it was wildly popular at the Cannes Film Festival, where it made its debut earlier this month, and was met with a seven-and-a-half minute standing ovation from the audience.

“I’m just very grateful, very grateful for 30 years to be able to entertain you with this franchise,” an emotional Cruise told the Cannes crowd.