LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation dominated the US box office over the weekend with an impressive $56 million at 3,956 locations.
The Paramount/ Skydance tentpole generated $20.3 million at the Friday box office, setting an opening day mark for the sturdy franchise – and signaling that Cruise still carries plenty of star power. Saturday’s total hit $19.7 million.
The launch of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation outperformed forecasts by a significant margin. It had been on track for an opening weekend of $40 million, according to recent studio estimates.
It’s the third largest opening for Cruise, following the $64.9 million launch for 2004’s War of the Worlds and $57.8 million for 2000’s Mission: Impossible 2.
Rogue Nation also opened in about 40 per cent of international markets with $65 million, led by South Korea’s $17 million.
The fifth installment in the series, written and directed by Chris McQuarrie, finds Cruise facing off against a squad of special agents known as the Syndicate. Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner and Rebecca Ferguson also star.
“They have delivered a film that has such energy and excitement,” said Rob Moore, Pararmount’s vice chair.Rogue Nation, which carries a $150 million price tag, is one of a rare studio tent poles that was moved forward rather than backward. The original plan had been to open on Christmas Day this year, but Moore noted that Cruise had asked during filming – which started last August – could be moved up to avoid competing directly against the next Star Wars movie (which opens Dec 18) and James Bond’s Spectre, which launches Nov 6.
The first four Mission: Impossible films have grossed over $2 billion. In 2011, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol pulled in $209 million in the US and $485 million internationally.
