MI - Rogue Nation cruises to top of Box Office

Mission Impossible –Rogue Nation had a $56 million debut at the Box Office this weekend.

The fifth instalment of the hit action spy series starring Tom Cruise opened on Friday. Its first weekend takings make it one of the strongest openings in the franchise, falling just shy of the $57.8 million opening of 2000’s Mission Impossible II.

A big part of its appeal is the film’s stunts, which Tom tries to do as many of as possible. The current movie features a sequence with the actor hanging off the side of an aircraft as it takes off.

“Going down that runway I was thinking, 'Holy sh*t!'" he told Entertainment Tonight.

While Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation reigned supreme, it was a different story for Vacation, starring Christina Applegate, Chris Hemsworth and Ed Helms. Despite an early opening on Wednesday, the remake of National Lampoon’s Vacation only managed to secure $21 million to take second place. Insiders forecast that the movie could barely make more than the 1983 original which starred Chevy Chase and came at a time when average ticket prices were less than half what they are today.

However Christina is proud of the production despite her blasé attitude towards some of the more risqué moments in the film.

“Nothing shocks me,” she told Variety at the premiere. “This film is like a distant dirty cousin to the others.”

Ant-Man continued to perform taking $12.6 million to secure third place while rounding out the top five was Minions with $12.2 million and Adam Sandler’s Pixels with $10.4 million.