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| 'Mission: Impossible' cruises to top of holiday box office |
Dec 26, 2011
Source: USA Today |
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BY Scott Bowles |
After its blistering debut on IMAX screens, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol overtook Sherlock Holmes on a packed weekend to rule theaters over the holiday.
The fourth installment of the Tom Cruise series took in $46.2 million over the four-day weekend, according to studio estimates from industry tracking firm Hollywood.com.
The Brad Bird-directed film, which made $12.8 million last week almost exclusively on the oversized IMAX screens, continued its roll, eclipsing most analysts' projections by $6 million. The film has taken in $78.6 million since its release on IMAX Dec. 16 and in standard theaters last Wednesday.
The haul is a marked improvement over Cruise's previous film, Knight & Day, last year's thriller with Cameron Diaz that did $76 million over its entire domestic run.
"Christmas weekend is a time of love and forgiveness, and this is great news to Tom Cruise," says David Mumpower of Boxofficeprophets.com. The film should enjoy a healthy sprint through the holidays, Mumpower says.
"As the perceived biggest movie this holiday season, it will continue to run well over the next several days," he says, ensuring "it will reach $100 million by next weekend."
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows also could cross nine digits soon. The Robert Downey Jr. sequel did $31.8 million and has grossed $90.6 million since opening nationwide Dec. 16.
Another holdover, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, was third with $20 million in its second weekend, lifting its total to $56.9 million.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had a solid weekend of $19.4 million, good for fourth place. While its opening met many analysts' expectations, Mumpower says the debut was "acceptable but far from exciting."
He says the David Fincher film, an adaptation of the grisly Swedish best seller, "was not timed well for Christmas week. The feel-bad movie of the holiday season should find wider popularity over the next seven days. If not, it is going to be perceived as a box office disappointment independent of its quality."
Critics and fans were solidly behind the movie, according to the amalgam site Rottentomatoes.com. About 85% of the nation's critics gave it a thumbs-up, while 84% of audiences enjoyed it, the site says. The movie, which opened Tuesday, has grossed $21.4 million.
Other newcomers saw middling openings on a crowded weekend. Steven Spielberg's Adventures of Tintin took fifth with $16.1 million, the lower end of projections.
"Steven Spielberg had a bumpy start," says Gitesh Pandya of Boxofficeguru.com. "The (comic book) property is not too well-known in the United States, which always posed a challenge."
The Matt Damon film We Bought a Zoo also opened south of expectations, taking in $15.6 million for sixth place. Zoo and Tintin could make up some ground this week, though, as many kids are out of school through New Year's Day.
Two films opened on Christmas, both getting solid numbers. Steven Spielberg's War Horse corralled $15 million in two days, while the sci-fi thriller The Darkest Hour made $5.5 million.
The crush of new films couldn't make up much ground for Hollywood at the box office. Ticket sales are down 4% from last year, while attendance is off 5%.
Final figures are due Tuesday. |
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