Paramount Launches a Cruise Missile

Fueled by baby-boomer nostalgia and the star power of Tom Cruise, “Mission: Impossible� has drawn record ticket sales for a Wednesday opening as it heads into the lucrative Memorial Day holiday weekend.

Paramount Pictures said its fast-paced spy thriller took in $11,758,094 at the box office during Tuesday night previews and on its official opening day Wednesday--a time frame counted simply as Wednesday by some industry record-keepers.

“It’s the largest Wednesday opening in May, but more importantly, it’s the largest Wednesday opening of any movie in the history of the industry,� said Barry London, vice chairman of Paramount’s motion picture group.

As a result, previous Wednesday opening records self-destructed.

“Terminator 2�--released on July 3, 1991, in 2,274 theaters--had held the top spot with $11,661,072 in ticket sales, including Tuesday evening previews. “The Firm,� which also starred Cruise, opened to $7.2 million on June 30, 1993, without Tuesday previews.

For Wednesdays preceding Memorial Day, “Mission: Impossible� has now eclipsed “Return of the Jedi,� which opened May 25, 1983, and took in $6.2 million, and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,� which grossed $5.6 million when it debuted on May 24, 1989.

“Mission: Impossible� arrived in 3,012 theaters only two weeks after Warner Bros. opened its early-summer powerhouse, “Twister,� which has already taken in $104.2 million in domestic ticket sales through Wednesday.

London said he expects both films to do well in the next few days, since the Memorial Day weekend box-office total can reach $120 million, as much as doubling the preceding weekend.

“Mission: Impossible� has been helped by an aggressive marketing campaign by Paramount, which began with a teaser trailer in theaters last November, followed by trailers around Easter. At the same time, Cruise has been on a number of magazine covers and has made himself available for interviews about the movie, which the actor’s company produced.

Paramount also has arranged various corporate tie-ins. Kellogg’s has placed “Mission: Impossible� graphic art on 32 million boxes of Corn Pops; Apple computers, which supplied Powerbooks for the movie, is promoting the film through ads and displays in computer stores; and the film has been hyped on the Turner Broadcasting stations TBS and TNT during National Basketball Assn. playoff games.