Tom Cruise

The real “failure to launch” of “Mission: Impossible III” at the box office has caused an immediate problem at Paramount Pictures.

Sources tell me that a catered lunch at the studio, planned ahead on Friday as a celebration, turned into a morbid affair. “Brad Grey and Rob Moore came to it, but no one spoke and eventually everyone left.”

Apparently, reality set in faster in the Paramount executive suite than it did even among Cruise naysayers.

For one thing, weekend numbers - announced as estimates on Sunday - turned out to be slightly lower on Monday by almost a million bucks. The movie’s real take was $47.7 million, not $48.6 million.

“You have to understand,” says a source, “they sit around and try to decide what sounds better on Sunday. The $48 million sounded closer to 50. The 47 sounds more like 45.”

You’ve got to feel for these people, though. Since Monday morning, every department at Paramount has been called on for immediate cost cutting, I’m told.

“Budget meetings are going on everywhere,” says a source. “Everyone’s being asked what they can do, and there’s talk of layoffs again.”

Why the sudden concern? On Monday night, “M: I3″ may have become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

It made $3.5 million, off 72 percent from Sunday. That number must have had the Paramount prognosticators running around like earthquake experts.

You see, blockbusters generally do not drop so much from their first Sunday to Monday. Some examples: “Spider-Man 2″ had a 57 percent drop, and “Batman Begins” had a 26 percent drop.

“War of the Worlds,” Tom Cruise’s last film, had only a 38 percent dip on its first Monday, but that was July 4 and a holiday. The following Monday it hung in there at 61 percent.

“They must be freaking out,” says a source.

Indeed, the number-crunchers are going to be watching “M: I3″ every day, maybe every hour this week to see where it’s going.

Some astute TV viewers are already reporting seeing a new commercial that emphasizes Philip Seymour Hoffman as the villain Owen Davian.

If the numbers keep bottoming out as we head toward Friday, then Warner Bros. will be relieved. “Poseidon” might have a strong opening despite being awful.

And that’s the irony here: “M: I3″ is a terrific action film. Director J.J. Abrams did a great job, and the entire cast from Cruise right through to the team and various supporting players do a convincing job.

Cruise has several fantastic stunts that will take your breath away. It would be a shame if everyone waited to watch it at home on small screens.

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