In a major win for both distributor Paramount and Tom Cruise, Mission - Impossible: Rogue Nation, the fifth installment in one of the longest-running film franchises around today (19 years and counting), debuted to strong numbers this weekend. The action flick pulled in $56 million (strong $14,156 per-venue average0, the 10th-biggest opening weekend for a movie of 2015 so far. Tracking and buzz was a little underwhelming heading into the release, and many tracking sites were projecting a weekend of $40 million. But, reviews were fantastic (93% on Rotten Tomatoes, in line with its predecessor Ghost Protocol), and marketing was strong. After misfiring with Terminator: Genysis earlier this year, Paramount got their first major hit this year since The SpongeBob Movie in February. For Cruise, its his third-biggest debut after Mission - Impossible II ($57 million over the three-day portion of Memorial Day Weekend) and War of the Worlds ($65 million). Competition is fierce over the next few weeks in the form of Fantastic Four and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but the strong word-of-mouth should keep this going through Labor Day Weekend.Overseas, Rogue Nation earned a strong $65 million from 40 international territories, for a worldwide launch of a strong $121 million. In 33 of those territories, Rogue Nation outpaced its predecessor by an impressive 49%, with China still yet to open. Ghost Protocol wrapped its run with nearly $700 million worldwide, a number that Rogue Nation seems to stand a good chance at at least coming close to.
Another franchise continuation (more of a reboot) also opened this weekend, but to much less impressive results. Vacation underperformed, pulling in $14.9 million over the three-day stretch ($4,354 per-venue average), for a $21.2 million gross since Wednesday. Marketing was strong for the Warner Bros. film, and expectations were for it to earn between $30 and $40 million for the five-day stretch. In the end, interest in a reboot of the classic former Chevy Chase franchise just didn't seem to be much. Negative reviews (23% on Rotten Tomatoes) didn't help either. The budget was only $31 million, and the CinemaScore was a "B-".
In a tight race for third place, Marvel's Ant-Man kept a narrow lead over strong competition. The closing chapter to Phase 2 of the MCU was off 49% in the face of Rogue Nation to $12.6 million, for a decent $132 million gross in 17 days. Unfortunately, more strong competition in the form of Fantastic Four arrives next weekend, so it doesn't look like the well-reviewed flick will have much of a chance to hold well from here. At least it will pass The Incredible Hulk's $138 million final gross this week. Overseas, its about to pass the $300 million mark worldwide.
Minions was close behind, and was off 47% to $12.2 million, as the blockbuster animation flick still can't seem to find its footing. In 24 days, the Despicable Me spin-off has earned a strong $287.4 million, and has fallen behind the pace of Despicable Me 2 through the same point. However, it held better than last weekend's disappointment Pixels. Adam Sandler's latest misfire was down 57% to $10.4 million, for a meager $45.6 million gross in 10 days. With Fantastic Four around the corner, this probably won't have much of a chance to stabilize, and is on pace for a $65-70 million finish.
Trainwreck followed, and took a relatively small hit in the face of Vacation, off 44% to $9.7 million in its third weekend. The well-reviewed Amy Schumer comedy is at $79.7 million in 17 days. Surprisingly, after overperforming in its debut, Southpaw retreated 55% to $7.5 million, for a decent $31.6 million pick-up in 10 days. More competition for adults likely contributed to this drop. There's still a chance this can stabilize better in the coming weeks, and stands a good chance at finishing north of $50 million.
With its frontloaded opening weekend in mind, Paper Towns was expected to drop hard this weekend. That proved true, as it plunged 64% from its disappointing start to $4.6 million. With $23.8 million picked up in 10 days, Paper Towns will likely end up between $30 and $35 million. Having the strongest hold in the Top 10, Pixar's hit Inside Out was down 39% to $4.5 million in its seventh weekend. The potential Best Picture contender is at a huge $329.6 million in 49 days, and has earned over $600 million worldwide with some major territories left to open.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its eighth weekend was dinosaur blockbuster Jurassic World, which is making its final bow in this list following one of the most impressive runs this blogger has ever seen out of a movie (since its record-breaking launch, all of its weekend drops have been below 50%). The reboot of another one of Hollywood's longest-running franchises did take a minor hit from Rogue Nation, off 47% to $3.8 million. In 56 days, Jurassic World has picked up an extroardinary $631.5 million, and with Japan opening this week, is likely to end its run at around $1.65 billion, finishing as the third highest-grossing movie in history.
Well, that's it. Next weekend, the last major possible hit of the summer season, Fantastic Four, arrives in theaters. Also opening are Meryl Streep's Ricki and the Flash, horror flick The Gift, and well-reviewed stop-motion animated flick Shaun the Sheep: The Movie. How will they all fare? We shall see.
