‘Four’ founders, but ‘Mission’ doing fine

Tom Cruise continued a fantastic box office run this weekend.

Fantastic Four? Not so much. In its second weekend, Cruise and his spy movie Mission: Im

possible — Rogue Nation upended the new superhero film for first place at the box office with $29.4 million, according to studio estimates from Rentrak. The fifth in- stallment of the M:I franchise cracked $100 million in 10 days.

Rogue Nation’s success solidifies Cruise as one of the best actor/producers, says Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian. “His entire mission with Mission is to entertain the audience, and he will do whatever it takes.”

The latest attempt at jumpstarting a Fantastic Four franchise crashed and burned. Savaged by critics — and holding a 9% approval rating on the review site RottenTomatoes.com — the Josh Trank-directed movie was No. 2 with $26.2 million, which “is disastrous for a superhero film in this day and age,” Bock says.

The R-rated thriller The Gift, starring and directed by Australian actor Joel Edgerton, opened in third with $12 million. Rounding out the top five were

Vacation with $9.1 million and Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man, which ran its domestic total past $145 million with a $7.8 million take. Meryl Streep may rock in Ricki

and the Flash, but the dramedy rolled to only a $7 million debut, good for seventh behind Minions’ $7.4 million as the little yellow henchmen passed $300 million. The animated film Shaun the

Sheep Movie racked up $4 million for $5.6 million total since its opening Wednesday. Its reviews — 99% on Rotten Tomatoes — could help in the coming weeks.

Late summer “can be a good time to be a moviegoer,” Dergarabedian says. “There are gems in there.”

Final figures are due Monday.