‘Mission: Impossible’ cruises to top of box office with $26.5m

Melbourne: Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol’ remained at the top spot at the box office during the Christmas weekend earning 26.5 million dollars.

Cruise’s fourth “Mission” flick was a bright spot over the festive weekend filled with so-so tidings for Hollywood, whose usually busy holiday stretch since Thanksgiving has been a bust. The movie raised its total to 59 million dollars since it started a week earlier in huge-screen cinemas and expanded nationwide last Wednesday, and distributor Paramount estimated that revenues will reach 72.7 million dollars by Monday. In second place was Warner Bros.’ ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.’ The detective adventure starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law brought in an estimated 17.8 million dollars in its second weekend. Generally well-reviewed movies like Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Adventures of Tintin’, David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo’ opened with modest to weak results. FOX’s ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked’ placed third with 13.3 million dollars in domestic sales, the Daily Telegraph reported. SONY’s ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara came fourth with 13 million dollars and ‘The Adventures of Tintin,’ directed by Steven Spielberg, grabbed the fifth slot with 9.1 million dollars. As of Friday, ‘Ghost Protocol’ had also brought in a healthy 118 million dollars overseas. IANS