Daily Times

LOS ANGELES: Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ dominated the US box office this 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 signalling 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 percent of international markets with $65 million, led by South Korea’s $17 million. The fifth instalment 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,” Pararmount Vice Chair Rob Moore said. ‘Rogue Nation’, which carries a $150 million price tag, is one of a rare studio tentpoles 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’ film and James Bond’s ‘Spectre’, which launches on November 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. ‘Rogue Nation’ took in more than triple the Friday-Sunday total of New Line’s ‘Vacation’ reboot, which pulled in $14.9 million in 3,411 locations. The comedy, which launched on Wednesday, has grossed $21.2 million in five days – below recent forecasts of $30 million.