It’s amazing to think that a few years ago Tom Cruise was being actively forced out of the Mission Impossible franchise by Paramount. The attempted firing was a result of a tabloid-heavy personal life and his couch-jumping antics on Oprah. However, in the end it proved unsuccessful since he is a lead producer on the series. Two movies later the franchise is stronger than ever and at an astonishing 53, Cruise is showing that he may be the last action hero standing. Jackie Chan isn’t what he once was and The Rock suplexing some random dwarf through a coffee table, can’t possibly compare to Cruise actually riding a motorcycle at high speeds on a mountain, or yes…hanging outside of a plane. It seems audiences agreed, as Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation debuted in first place this past weekend, with an estimated $56 million dollar opening. The sixth installment is revving up for production next year, so let’s see if we can get Cruise to hang on the outside of a rocket next time.
Probably the biggest disappointment over the weekend was the reboot of Vacation. Despite a good early buzz, the sequel to one of the biggest 80’s comedy franchises, failed to capture the attention of moviegoers and critics. It made an estimated $14.8 million dollars over the weekend, which is surely a major letdown for Warner Bros. The writers and directors of Vacation have just been hired to write the next Spider-Man movie for Sony and the low-hanging fruit style of comedy has gotten some concerned about the upcoming movie.
Ant-Man came in third for Marvel Studios, losing less than 50% of the previous week’s audience. The comedic heist film made another estimated $12.6 million dollars for the studio in its third week of release. These are anemic numbers by Marvel’s standards, however they will be reaping the rewards down the road for making a solid movie and introducing characters that will be popping up all over the MCU for years to come.
The fourth place belonged to the Minions who made another $12.2 million dollars to add to its hefty total. The movie should cross the $300 million dollar domestic total mark by next week.
Despite having a disappointing debut last week, Pixels managed to hang around in its second week, with an estimated $10.4 million dollars. This may be the last time we see an Adam Sandler led vehicle in the top five, as he makes the transition to Netflix soon.
Check out the complete box-office breakdown for the weekend of July 31st- August 2nd:
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | Par. | $56,000,000 | – | 3,956 | – | $14,156 | $56,000,000 | – | 1 |
| 2 | N | Vacation | WB (NL) | $14,850,000 | – | 3,411 | – | $4,354 | $21,172,000 | – | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | Ant-Man | BV | $12,619,000 | -49.3% | 3,322 | -546 | $3,799 | $132,148,000 | $130 | 3 |
| 4 | 3 | Minions | Uni. | $12,200,000 | -46.8% | 3,575 | -491 | $3,413 | $287,391,000 | $74 | 4 |
| 5 | 2 | Pixels | Sony | $10,400,000 | -56.7% | 3,723 | – | $2,793 | $45,611,000 | $88 | 2 |
| 6 | 4 | Trainwreck | Uni. | $9,700,000 | -43.9% | 2,960 | -211 | $3,277 | $79,709,000 | $35 | 3 |
| 7 | 5 | Southpaw | Wein. | $7,519,000 | -55.0% | 2,772 | – | $2,712 | $31,577,000 | $30 | 2 |
| 8 | 6 | Paper Towns | Fox | $4,600,000 | -63.6% | 3,031 | – | $1,518 | $23,816,000 | $12 | 2 |
| 9 | 7 | Inside Out | BV | $4,517,000 | -39.1% | 1,904 | -813 | $2,372 | $329,594,000 | $175 | 7 |
| 10 | 8 | Jurassic World | Uni. | $3,800,000 | -47.1% | 1,912 | -733 | $1,987 | $631,500,000 | $150 | 8 |
What did you catch over the weekend? Was it any good? Let us know on the comment boards, , , and !
Source: Box Office Mojo