‘Mission: Impossible’ again tops N. American box office

LOS ANGELES: ' Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' fought off its competitors to claim the top spot on the North American box office chart for a second straight week, industry estimates showed Sunday.

Tom Cruise returns as a topsecret agent battling a rogue global organisation in the fifth instalment of the blockbuster franchise.

Box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said the film pulled in an estimated US$ 29.4 million over the weekend, edging out the latest Marvel superhero flick ‘ Fantastic Four’.

‘ Fantastic Four’, a reboot of the comic book franchise about four youths transported to an alternate universe where they gain superpowers, debuted to poor reviews and a disappointing US$ 26.2 million take.

Also making its North American debut was ‘ The Gift’, a psychological thriller with Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall, which opened in third place with US$ 12 million in weekend ticket sales.

‘ Vacation’, starring Ed Helms, Christina Applegate and Chevy Chase in a remake of the comedy classic about a family holiday gone awry, dropped from second to fourth place, making US$ 9.1 million in its second weekend.

Marvel action flick ‘ AntMan’ was in fifth place with an estimated weekend gross of US$ 7.8 million for a cumulative US$ 147.4 million after four weeks in theatres.

Just behind it in sixth place at US$ 7.4 million was animated comedy ‘ Minions’, whose yellow mischief-making creatures have raked in nearly US$ 303 million since the movie’s debut.

‘ Ricki and the Flash’, starring Oscar winner Meryl Streep as a rock- and-roll singer who faces a reckoning with her longsuffering family, debuted in seventh place with US$ 7 million in ticket sales.

‘ Trainwreck’, the Amy Schumer-Judd Apatow comedy about boozy commitmentphobic magazine writer, slipped to eighth from sixth place at US$ 6.3 million. Animated film ‘ Pixels’, about aliens who attack Earth after intercepting video games, dropped to ninth place, taking in US$ 5.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 with a box office take of nearly US$ 4.8 million was ‘ Southpaw’, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a boxer at the end of his bruising career. — AFP

Tom Cruise's ‘Mission' accomplished, at top spot on North American box ofice.

a Franchise reboot ‘Fantastic Four' lopped at the weekend box ofice in its debut. • (Left) Meryl Streep stars as a rock-and-roll singer in ‘Ricki and the Flash' which debuts in seventh place.