Tom Cruise cruised into theaters with the latest entry in his Mission Impossible franchise, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, and audiences showed up in droves.
The fifth in the series (and one of its best) scored the sixth highest August debut in history with $56 million. It served as the second-highest opening in the Mission Impossible series, just behind Mission Impossible II’s $57.8 million.
Meanwhile, the other big debut in theaters this past weekend did not fare as well. The sequel/reboot of Vacation starring Ed Helms and Christina Applegate arrived on the big screen and took in $14.9 million before the weekend closed.
Ant-Man, the previous two-time box office champ, fell to third with $12.6 million, bringing its total cume to $132.1 million. Right behind it was another big box office winner, the animated Minions. Those adorable little yellow evil sidekicks earned $12.2 million for fourth place. The Despicable Me spin-off has now made $287.3 million and will likely give Universal Pictures its third $300-million-plus movie of the summer.
Closing out the top five is the Adam Sandler-starring Pixels with its $10.4 million.
Box Office Top Five:
- Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, $56 million
- Vacation, $14.9 million
- Ant-Man, $12.6 million (132.1)
- Minions, $12.2 million (287.3)
- Pixels, $10.4 million