Cruise's 'Mission' accomplishes box-office win

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

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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.

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; Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" at No. 5 with $9.7 million over three days and $16.1 million for four days; and Matt Damon's "We Bought a Zoo" at No. 6 with $9.5 million over three days and $15.6 million for 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."

Weekend box office

1. Results for Dec. 23-26

   1. "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol," Paramount, $46,210,000, 3,448 locations, $13,402 average, $78,645,000, two weeks.
   2. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," Warner Bros., $31,810,000, 3,448 locations, $9,226 average, $90,564,000, two weeks.
   3. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," Fox, $20,000,000, 3,734 locations, $5,356 average, $56,940,187, two weeks.
   4. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," Sony, $19,400,000, 2,914 locations, $6,658 average, $27,716,000, one week.
   5. "The Adventures of Tintin," Paramount, $16,100,000, 3,087 locations, $5,215 average, $24,107,000, one week.

"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 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 Monday totaled $184 million, down 10 percent from Christmas weekend last year, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45791428/ns/today-entertainment/

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