Tom Cruises’ Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation triumphed at the North American box office this weekend, pulling in an impressive $56 million at 3,956 theaters.
The action feature marks as the third-largest debut for Cruise, following 2004’s War of the Worlds with $64.9 and 2000’s Mission: Impossible 2 with $57.8 million. Written and directed by Chris McQuarrie, Rogue Nation follows the story of Ethan (Cruise) and his team taking on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate. The action flick co-stars Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris and Alec Baldwin.
“They have delivered a film that has such energy and excitement,” said Rob Moore, Paramount Pictures’ vice-chairman.
With a $150 million price tag, the film scored an A minus CinemaScore from moviegoers who were 81 percent over the age of 25, while critics gave it a strong 93 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The weekend’s other new release was New Line’s Vacation, coming in second place with $14.9 million in 3,411 locations. The R-rated comedy opened Wednesday and accumulated $21.2 million in the passed five days, somewhat less than the $30 million analysts predicted.
The National Lampoon’s Vacation reboot, which cost roughly $31 million to produce, stars Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann and Chris Hemsworth. Directed by Harold Ramis, the film picks up as Rusty Griswold (Helms), now grown, takes his own family on a vacation. Applegate plays Griswold’s wife, while Mann will portray Audrey Griswold, Rusty’s sister. Hemsworth will play Audrey’s husband, an up-and-coming anchorman named Stone Crandall. Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo make cameos.
Audience members, who were 53 percent female and 52 percent under the age of 35, gave the film a B CinemaScore, while critics gave it a 23 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Falling in third and fourth place at the box office is holdovers Disney’s Ant-Man and Universal’s Minions with $12.62 million ($132.1 million domestic total) and $12.2 million ($287.3 million domestic total), respectively. Universal’s Pixels tumbled to fifth place in its second weekend, taking in an additional $10.4 million for a 10-day total of $45.6 million.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: July 31 – August 2
- Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation — $56.0 million
- Vacation — $14.9 million
- Ant-Man — $12.62 million
- Minions — $12.2 million
- Pixels — $10.4 million
- Trainwreck — $9.7 million
- Southpaw — $7.52 million
- Paper Towns — $4.6 million
- Inside Out — $4.52 million
- Jurassic World — $3.8 million
