Mission: Impossible 2 Box Office Flashback: When This Tom Cruise’s Actioner Ruled The Decade, Century & Millennium Briefly!

Did you know Mission: Impossible 2 topped global charts in 2000 and held the title across the decade and century? A wild box office journey.

- May 20, 2025 | 5:25 PM IST

Tom Cruise In Mission Impossible 2 Still (Photo Credit – Prime Video)

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is finally here, bringing the action saga of the past 29 years full circle. The franchise, which—like its eighth and latest installment—was launched on Memorial Day weekend in 1996 to great success, didn’t truly expand on the big screen until its first sequel four years later.

Mission: Impossible 2 Redefined Action & Shattered Franchise Records

Mission: Impossible 2, the sophomore entry, marked the return of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and Ving Rhames’ Luther, alongside several new additions and Hans Zimmer as the composer. With director John Woo at the helm, the film elevated its action choreography, which largely overshadowed the original’s spy espionage and complex interpersonal dynamics.

While not a critical hit, the movie proved to be a colossal box office success—and one of the biggest in Cruise’s career when adjusted for inflation. In fact, several records it set within the franchise would remain unbroken until 2018’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the sixth installment.

Mission: Impossible 2’s Global Box Office Reign

According to Box Office Mojo, Mission: Impossible 2 grossed more than $215 million at the North American box office and $546 million worldwide, thus registering as the highest-grossing movie of 2000. This transpired in early June of the year; thus, five months into the new year, decade, century, and even millennium, Tom Cruise had already produced the most successful movie in global ticket sales.

Franchise Comparison

Though its domestic crown slipped in the final month of 2000—surpassed by How the Grinch Stole Christmas ($260 million) and Cast Away ($233 million)—Mission: Impossible 2 still held onto the title of the highest-grossing movie worldwide across the 2000s, the 21st century, and the millennium for 17 months, until Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ($974 million) overtook it in November 2001.

Mission: Impossible 2 held the title of the highest-grossing film worldwide from its release in May 2000 until November 2001, enjoying a dominant 17-month reign at the global box office—an achievement matched by only a select few films in cinematic history.