After two straight weeks atop thebox office,Marvel’sAnt-Manwill surely be dethroned this weekend, with the arrival of two new releases, Paramount’sMission: Impossible Rogue Nationand New Line Cinema’sVacation.Mission: Impossible Rogue Nationwill easily take the top spot, somewhere in the low $50 million range, in its first week in theaters. The fifth installment of the lucrativeMission: Impossiblefranchise is heading into theaters with a strong wave of critical buzz, with a 93% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Even thoughVacationdebuted on Wednesday, and the reviews haven’t been favorable (25% “Rotten” rating), it should still easily take the second place spot.
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nationopens in 3,956 theaters today, with action iconTom Cruisereprising his role as Ethan Hunt for the fifth time. He is joined by stars of 2011’sMission: Impossible Ghost Protocol,Jeremy Renner,Simon PeggandVing Rhames, along with a slew of new cast members such asRebecca Ferguson,Sean Harris,Simon McBurney, Jingchu Zhang andAlec Baldwin. Some project this action-thriller won’t surpass the $50 million mark this weekend, but with the incredibly positive reviews, it should have no trouble taking the top spot with over $50 million. It has already taken in $4 million from Thursday night preview screenings, according toDeadline.
Vacationopened in 3,411 theaters on Wednesday, taking in just $3.8 million on its first day. The comedy is R-rated, which means kids on their summer break won’t be able to see it. But the numbers should steadily improve throughout the weekend as adults seeking R-rated summer fun seek to close out their long work week.Ed Helmsstars as the grown-up Rusty Griswold, who takes his family on their first ever road trip toWalley World, replicating his own trip to the amusement park as a child.Chevy ChaseandBeverly D’Angeloreturn as Rusty’s parents, Clark and Ellen Griswold, alongsideChristina Applegate,Chris Hemsworth,Leslie MannandCharlie Day. With this star power in tow,Vacationshould have no trouble cracking $20 million in its opening weekend.
The rest of the top 5 will be filled out by holdovers, withAnt-Mandropping to third place,Minionstaking fourth place, andTrainwrecksliding into fifth place. The top 10 will be rounded out byPixels,Southpaw,Paper Towns,Inside OutandJurassic World. There is a chance that the indie dramaMr. Holmescracks the top 10 this weekend, since it expands from 215 theaters to 901 theaters.Mr. Holmestook ninth place last weekend with $2.8 million, but it remains to be seen how audiences in these expanded markets will react to the film. Also opening in limited release isA Lego BrickumentaryandThe End of the Tour, starringJesse EisenbergandJason Segel.
Looking ahead to next weekend, there will be four new movies opening in wide release vying for your late-summer dollars, 20th Century Fox’sFantastic Fourreboot, STX Entertaiment’s indie thrillerThe Gift, TriStar’sRicki and the Flashand Lionsgate’s animated comedyShaun the Sheep. Opening in limited release is Focus Features’Cop Car, directed by the newSpider-ManfilmmakerJon Wattsand starringKevin Bacon, A24’sDark PlacesstarringCharlize TheronandChloe Moretz, andThe Diary of a Teenage GirlstarringKristen Wiig. Check back on Sunday for this weekend’s box office results, but until then, take a look at our projected top 10.
