Tom Cruise achieves box office 'Mission'

LOS ANGELES -- Hollywood has picked up a little Christmas bonus.

Studios generally underestimated the size of their movie audiences over the weekend, and they're now revising the holiday revenues upward.

Leading the way is Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," which pulled in $29.5 million for the weekend. That Monday figure is $3 million more than distributor Paramount estimated a day earlier.

For the four-day period Friday to Monday, Paramount estimates "Ghost Protocol" will have taken in $46.2 million to raise its domestic total to $78.6 million. That's on top of $140 million the film has taken in overseas, giving it a worldwide haul of $218.6 million.

Top 10 movies at the box office

BOX OFFICE: Estimated ticket sales (in millions of dollars) for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com.

1. "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol" ........ $46.2.

2. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" ............... $31.8.

3. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" ............ $20.0.

4. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" ....................... $19.4.

5. "The Adventures of Tintin" ..................................... $16.1.

6. "We Bought a Zoo" ................................................ $15.6.

7. "War Horse" .......... $15.0.

8. "The Darkest Hour" ... $5.5.

9. "New Year's Eve" .....$5.0.

10. "The Descendants" . $3.4.

Studios Monday also reported stronger results than they did a day earlier for Robert Downey Jr.'s "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," which was No. 2 at $20.3 million for the three-day weekend and $31.8 million for the four-day period. "Sherlock Holmes was No. 1 at the box office last week. Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" came in at No. 5 with $9.7 million over three days and $16.1 million for four days. Matt Damon's "We Bought a Zoo" finished at No. 6 with $9.5 million over three days and $15.6 million f! or four days.

In a tight race for the No. 4 spot were David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and the family sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked."

"Dragon Tattoo" did $12.8 million over three days and $19.4 million for four days. "Chipwrecked" took in $12.7 million over three days and $20 million for four days.

A few films debuted on Christmas Day, among them Mr. Spielberg's World War I epic "War Horse," which took in $7.5 million Sunday. Through Monday, its estimated two-day total is $15 million.

Also debuting was Emile Hirsch's action thriller "The Darkest Hour," which earned $3 million Sunday and had a two-day total of $5.5 million through Monday.

Opening solidly in just six theaters was Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock's Sept. 11 drama "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," which took in $71,000 Sunday and $136,000 through Monday. The film expands to nationwide release in January.

Despite the upward revision on some movies' revenues, the Christmas weekend continued a box-office slide that has persisted since Thanksgiving. Overall revenues from Friday to Sunday totaled $128 million, down 10 percent from Christmas weekend last year, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

Despite predictions from studio executives that 2011 could be a record-setter that would finish with a bang, domestic revenues remained stuck at a sluggish pace that has lingered all year.

Hollywood should finish the year with $10.1 billion domestically, down 4.45 percent from 2010, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

The picture gets worse taking into account higher ticket prices, which mean Hollywood brings in fewer fans for each dollar spent. Actual domestic attendance for 2011 will close out at about 1.27 billion, down 5.3 percent from the previous year's and the lowest head count since 1995, when admissions totaled 1.26 billion.

"Thank God 2011 is almost over, because we've had a real rough run here at the end of the year," said Hollywood.com a! nalyst P aul Dergarabedian. "We always count on the holiday season to give us a big boost at the end of the year, and it just didn't happen.

"These admission numbers this year just tell me that we maybe have to set our sights a little lower in terms of attendance every year."

Since peaking at a modern high of 1.6 billion in 2002, domestic movie admissions have been on a general decline since.

Studio executives always insist that slow times result from weak films, but on paper, the strong lineup Hollywood presented this year should have had fans lining up in huge numbers. Pretty good films are out there this holiday season, yet blockbuster expectations fizzled, a sign that people might be skipping a trip to the theater in favor of home-viewing, video games or the countless other entertainment options their gadgets now offer.

Rising ticket prices, particularly the extra few dollars it costs to see 3-D films, also could be causing a backlash among fans.

With "Ghost Protocol" climbing toward the $100 million mark domestically, it's a return to box-office form for Mr. Cruise, who had been Hollywood's most-dependable earner for two decades until he turned off fans with odd antics in his personal life six years ago.

"Ghost Protocol" will be his first top-billed $100 million hit since 2006's "Mission: Impossible III." He had a supporting role in 2008's $100 million comedy hit "Tropic Thunder," which was headlined by Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black.

European literary exports "Dragon Tattoo," adapted from Stieg Larsson's Swedish best-seller, and "Tintin," based on Belgian artist Herge's storybook classics, aren't finding as warm a reception among U.S. crowds.

"Dragon Tattoo" has been a sensation among U.S. readers yet failed to challenge "Mission: Impossible" and the other established franchises at the top of the box office.

Beloved by generations of readers overseas, "The Adventures of Tintin" launched internationally two months ahead of its U.S. release.! But the blockbuster global attention, with nearly $250 million already in the bank from foreign markets, did not translate to crowds in the United States, drawing $16.1 million in ticket sales over the four-day weekend.

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First published on December 27, 2011 at 12:00 am