Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol | featured news

Tom Cruise appears to have left behind his weird period, at least at the North American box office. “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” which features the 49-year-old Mr. Cruise scaling buildings and sprinting through sandstorms, repeated as the No. 1 attraction at movie theaters over the holiday weekend, taking in about $31.3 million for a three-week total of $134 million. “Ghost Protocol,” directed by Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”), has sold over $200 million in scattered release overseas.

Tom Cruise’s latest mission has won a holiday weekend that’s shaping up with some silent nights at movie theaters as business continues to lag. Studio estimates Sunday place “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” a solid No. 1 with $26.5 million domestically over its first weekend in full release.

Paramount's Tom Cruise starrer Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol has done stellar buisness since opening last Friday in 425 IMAX and other large-format locations before expanding nationwide on Tuesday evening. The Brad Bird-directed film, which introduces Jeremy Renner to the espionage franchise, stayed atop the domestic box office on Friday, grossing a strong $9.7 million for a domestic cume of $42.2 millon. The film is expected to finish Monday--a national holiday--with a domestic cume of nearly $72 million.

Domestic box office revenues dip for third weekend in a row; one bright spot is "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," which rakes in $13.6 million in limited IMAX sneaks, and opens to a sizzling $68.2 million overseas.

This week at the movies, we've got a brilliant detective (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law), secret agents (Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, starring Tom Cruise and Simon Pegg), singing rodents (Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, starring Jason Lee and David Cross), and a prodigal daughter (Young Adult, starring Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt). What do the critics have to say?

Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams successfully restored Ethan Hunt to big-screen glory with "Mission Impossible III," but when "Ghost Protocol" comes our way this December, Abrams will be stepping away from the director's seat in favor of a producer role. But don't worry: the mission is in the very capable hands of Brad Bird, the man ...