Box Office

From ew, After five movies, Mission: Impossible is still box office gold. Rogue Nation debuted to a solid $56 million this weekend, exceeding expectations and outstripping everything else in theaters.

Initial studio estimates had Rogue Nation debuting around $40 million for the weekend, but it was clear that Rogue Nation was destined for bigger things when it opened to $20.4 million on Friday — the best single-day opening in M:I history.

It’s difficult to compare Mission: Impossible debuts, mainly because each one opened in such varied circumstances. (The first two opened the Wednesday before Memorial Day, for example, and 2011’s Ghost Protocol rolled out in 425 preview theaters before going wide Christmas weekend.) But comparing traditional three-day weekend numbers, Rogue Nation’s $56 million makes it the second-biggestMission: Impossible opening of all time, falling just shy of Mission: Impossible II’s $57.8 million. (Of course, adjusted for inflation, Rogue Nation ends up in fourth place.)

Rogue Nation marks Tom Cruise’s third biggest domestic opening of all time, behind War of the Worlds ($64.9 million) and Mission: Impossible II. This is also the biggest opening for Cruise and writer/director Christopher McQuarrie, as Valkyrieopened to $21 million in 2008 and Jack Reacheropened to $15 million in 2012. (McQuarrie also wrote the script for Edge of Tomorrow, which debuted to $28.7 million in 2014.)

Meanwhile, Vacation opened with an estimated $14.9 million for the weekend and a five-day total of $21.2 million. That’s well under initial predictions, which expected the National Lampoon sequel to reach $30 million over five days, but it was still enough to snag second place.

After topping the box office two weeks in a row, Ant-Man slid to third place, falling 49 percent to $12.6 million. Minions also spent its fourth weekend in the top five, dropping 47 percent to an estimated $12.2 million. (Minions also crossed $850 million at the global box office this weekend.) And after its lackluster debut last weekend, Pixels fell to $10.4 million — a drop of about 57 percent.

Here are this weekend’s top five at the box office:

1. Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation — $56 million
2. Vacation — $14.9 million
3. Ant-Man — $12.6 million
4. Minions — $12.2 million
5. Pixels — $10.4 million