Box Office: ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ Reigns Supreme!

This past weekend proved to be one of the biggest weekends of the year… in terms of movie releases that is. With films such as Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, We Bought a Zoo, War Horse, The Adventures of Tintin, Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud all hitting theaters within 4-5 days of each other,  it was only a matter of time before one was going to receive the crown as the Holiday Weekend champ. All other films would bow down.

And bow down they did to a franchise many thought was passed its prime, a franchise who’s leading frontman is known as one of the shortest A-list actors in Hollywood. This weekend the number one spot went to Tom Cruise and his action-packed sequel Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. From Friday to Sunday, the film grossed $29.5 million, reeling in the total to $62 million since its opening day in IMAX theaters. Worldwide, Ghost Protocol has gained over $100 million, and with those numbers, the film’s on the track to being the highest grossing M.I. film to date.

Surprisingly, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows batted off the newly released films and held on strong to the number 2 position with $20.2 million. Looks like movie goers tended to stay away from the dramas this holiday weekend, and instead turned towards action. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law won’t be laughing to the bank just yet; domestically the film’s only grossed $90 million. By the second weekend, Sherlock Holmes, the first film in this franchise, had grossed $138.7 million.

Rounding out the top three is the highly anticipated, David Fincher film, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig. With an ‘R’ rating stamped across its banners, the film managed to rake in $12.7 million this weekend. Not bad at all. Critics have fallen in love with the film, mostly praising Rooney Mara’s performance as ‘thrilling’. We’ll see how Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fares next weekend.

Only $100,000 away from topping Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. The high-pitched rodents topped The Adventures of Tintin, and added another $12.6 million to their domestic total. All in all the chipmunks have scored a measly domestic total $49.6 million.

Unfortunately, despite the nominations and approval from the critics, The Adventures of Tintin did not exceed people’s expectations, in fact, the film underperformed. Directed by Stephen Spielberg, Tintin only grossed $9.7 million. Lets also remember the film hit theaters on a Wednesday instead of a Friday. With that being said, expect Tintin’s number to increase as the days progress. Today, the film’s estimated to take in $6.2 million, and according to Box Office Mojo, that’s the largest one-day gross for Tintin to date.

In sixth, the family drama, We Bought a Zoo, starring Scarlett Johanson and Matt Damon, wasn’t the hit many people expected it to be. We Bought a Zoo only took in $9.5 million over the weekend. We’ll see how the film performs throughout the week.

Both War Horse and The Darkest Hour came out this past Sunday, but with only one day at the box office, the two films still managed to enter the top ten for the Holiday weekend. War Horse, in 7th place, grossed $7.5 million on Sunday. The Darkest Hour, 9th place, grossed $3 million.

Box Office Report 3-day Total (Estimates): December 23-25, 2011 

1. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – $29.5 million
2. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – $20.2 million
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – $12.7 million
4. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked – $12.6 million
5. The Adventures of Tintin – $9.7 million
6. We Bought a Zoo – $9.5 million
7. War Horse – $7.5 million
8. New Year’s Eve – $3.3 million
9. The Darkest Hour – $3. million
10. The Muppets – $2.1 million

Source: Box Office Mojo