Paramount Pictures’ Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation delivered last weekend (July 31-Aug. 2) with a first place debut of $55.52 million. The fifth installment of the Tom Cruise led action franchise opened toward the higher end of expectations. Without adjusting for inflation, Rogue Nation claimed the second largest opening weekend take of the Mission: Impossible franchise; behind only the $57.85 million opening weekend of 2000’s Mission: Impossible II. Rogue Nation opened 16 percent ahead of the $47.74 million debut of 2006’s Mission: Impossible III, though it should be noted that the opening weekend of Mission: Impossible III adjusts to $61.15 million when taking into account inflation. Pre-release tracking had been soft for Rogue Nation, but the film was ultimately able to get off to a good start thanks in part to its very strong reviews and to the rest of the marketplace being fairly empty for this time of year. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation is likely to hold up relatively well going forward, although the film will face significant competition over the next two weeks from 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four, Universal Pictures’ Straight Outta Compton and Warner Bros. Studios’ The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Rebecca Ferguson and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. (Photo: Chiabella James/Paramount Pictures)

Warner Bros.’ Vacation debuted a distant second place with $14.68 million. The comedy franchise re-launch starring Ed Helms and Christina Applegate grossed $21.00 million in five days since opening on Wednesday. That is below scaled back expectations for the film. Poor reviews didn’t help and the film’s R rating appears to have limited some of its potential with younger moviegoers as 64 percent of the film’s audience was 25 years and older. Vacation may be aided by the relative lack of new comedies arriving in the marketplace throughout the rest of August.

It was a close race for third place between Ant-Man and Minions. Disney’s Ant-Man finished on top with $12.80 million. The Paul Rudd led 3D superhero film from Marvel was down 49 percent from the previous weekend, as it took a direct hit from the arrival of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Ant-Man has grossed $132.33 million through 17 days.

Minions placed in fourth with $12.39 million. The 3D computer animated prequel from Universal and Illumination Entertainment trailed Ant-Man by just $415,269 for the weekend. Minions was down a significant 46 percent from the previous weekend, as the film continues to feel the effect of mixed word of mouth, especially among adults. Minions has grossed $287.58 million in 24 days. That places the film 3 percent behind the $295.26 million 24-day take of 2013’s Despicable Me 2.

Sony Pictures’ Pixels rounded out the weekend’s top five with $10.50 million. The Adam Sandler led 3D action comedy fell a sharp 56 percent from the previous weekend. The film’s percentage hold was lackluster, especially on the heels of it’s much softer than expected debut. Pixels has grossed $ $45.71 million in 10 days.

Trainwreck followed in sixth with $9.61 million. The critically acclaimed Amy Schumer led comedy from director Judd Apatow was down 44 percent. Trainwreck is displaying more front-loading than is usual for a film from Apatow; likely because Schumer’s fanbase rushed out to see the film. Trainwreck has grossed $79.61 million in 17 days.

The Weinstein Company’s Southpaw landed in seventh place with $7.62 million. The Jake Gyllenhaal led sports drama was down 54 percent, which does take a bit of the luster off of the previous weekend’s stronger than expected debut. Even with last weekend’s decline, Southpaw is still off to a solid 10-day start of $31.68 million.

Disney’s Ant-Man took in $24.91 million last weekend (July 24-26), which was good enough to lead the weekend box office for a second consecutive week. The Paul Rudd led superhero film from Marvel was down 56.5 percent from the previous weekend, but was able to remain in first place thanks in part to the disappointing debut of Pixels and the soft third weekend hold of Minions. Ant-Man surpassed the $100 million mark last weekend and has grossed a solid $106.22 million in 10 days. The film continues to perform in line with the lower end of pre-release expectations. Ant-Man is currently running 9 percent ahead of the $97.06 million 10-day take of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, which fell 57 percent in its second weekend to gross $22.14 million, and 9.5 percent behind the $117.42 million 10-day gross of 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, which dropped 61 percent to gross $25.55 million.

Marvel’s Ant-Man..L to R: Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas)..Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal..© Marvel 2014

Sony Pictures’ Pixels debuted in a very close second place with $24.01 million. The Adam Sandler led 3D action comedy was off to a disappointing start and even with scaled back expectations had been expected to lead the box office heading into the weekend. Ultimately the film’s high-profile retro video game concept and the high levels of buzz generated by its initial trailer weren’t enough to overcome poor reviews and Sandler’s declining popularity, but audiences are responding to the film better than critics have. On the brighter side of things, the production budget for Pixels was fairly modest by high-profile summer release standards and the film was off to a relatively stronger start overseas last weekend.

Minions wasn’t far behind with a third place take of $22.93 million. The blockbuster 3D computer animated spin-off from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment was down 53.5 percent from the previous weekend. After a terrific opening weekend performance, Minions has displayed lackluster holding power due in part to mixed word of mouth, especially among adults, and to the massive initial rush out of the film’s fanbase during the film’s first week of release. With that said, Minions has grossed $262.45 million in 17 days. That places the film just ahead of the $258.57 million 17-day take of 2013’s Despicable Me 2, although it should be pointed out that Minions has an advantage in the comparison as a result of Despicable Me 2 opening on a Wednesday.

Fellow Universal release Trainwreck followed in fourth with $17.28 million. The critically acclaimed Amy Schumer led comedy from director Judd Apatow was down 43 percent from the previous weekend. The film’s hold last weekend does indicate that the rush out of Schumer’s fanbase has led to relatively more initial front-loading than usual for a film from Apatow; but the film is still likely to hold up much better going forward thanks to its strong word of mouth and reviews. Trainwreck has grossed a very promisig $61.53 million in 10 days.

The Weinstein Co. ‘s Southpaw rounded out the weekend’s top five with a $16.70 million debut. The Antoine Fuqua directed sports drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal opened slightly ahead of expectations and surprisingly ahead of Paper Towns in last weekend’s rankings. Despite mixed reviews, Southpaw was off to a nice start thanks in part to an effective marketing campaign that was aided by the film’s soundtrack and by focusing on Gyllenhaal’s buzzed about performance.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox’s Paper Towns was off to a disappointing sixth place start with $12.65 million. The young adult adaptation starring Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne opened well below expectations. The goodwill from the success of last year’s The Fault in Our Stars, which like Paper Towns, was also adapted from a John Green novel, helped generate high levels of online buzz for Paper Towns in the weeks leading up to its release, but that buzz ultimately failed to transfer over to the box office. On top of the soft opening, Paper Towns was extremely front-loaded.

In other box office news, Universal’s Jurassic World moved into third place on the all-time unadjusted domestic list after a $7.18 million eighth place take last weekend. Jurassic World has grossed a massive $624.08 million in 45 days, which places it just ahead of the $623.36 million final domestic gross of 2012’s Marvel’s The Avengers. 1997’s Titanic, with aid from its 2012 re-issue, claims second place on the all-time domestic list with a lifetime unadjusted gross of $658.67 million.

Disney’s Ant-Man debuted in first place last weekend (July 17-19) with $57.23 million. The Paul Rudd led comic book film from Marvel opened on the low end of expectations, which ranged from $57 million-$65 million heading into the weekend. Ant-Man delivered the second smallest debut ever for a Marvel Cinematic Universe film, which had been largely expected given the lower profile status of Ant-Man compared to other Marvel superheroes. Ant-Man opened 3 percent ahead of the $55.41 million debut of 2008’s The Incredible Hulk and 12 percent behind the $65.06 million start of 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger. The film will face tough competition over the next few weeks from the likes of Sony Pictures’ Pixels, Paramount Pictures’ Impossible – Rogue Nation and 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four.

Paul Rudd stars in Marvel’s Ant-Man. (Photo: Zade Rosenthal/Marvel)

Minions was down one spot from the previous weekend to claim second with $49.27 million. The blockbuster 3D computer animated spin-off from Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment didn’t hold up as well as had been expected, as it was down 57 percent in its second weekend. Minions likely took a larger hit among the non-family portion of its audience, which had been fairly large in size opening weekend. While Minions is set to be significantly more front-loaded than both of the previous installments of the Despicable Me franchise, the film is still performing extremely well in the bigger picture, especially with its relatively modest cost for a computer animated films in mind. Minions zoomed past the $200 million domestic mark last weekend and has grossed $215.77 million through 10 days of release. That places the film 9 percent ahead of the $197.93 million 10-day take of Despicable Me 2, though Minions does have an advantage in the current comparison as a result of Despicable Me 2 being a Wednesday release. Whether or not Minions is able to stabilize this coming weekend will likely have a lot to do with just how much appeal Pixels ultimately has with family audiences.

Fellow Universal release Trainwreck was off to an impressive start with a third place take of $30.10 million. The Amy Schumer led comedy from director Judd Apatow opened just ahead of its expectations, which were anywhere from $20 million-$30 million heading into the weekend. Strong critical reviews, high levels of pre-release hype surrounding both the film and Schumer and the built-in fanbase of Schumer and Apatow all helped lead to the film’s successful launch. Trainwreck is likely to hold up well through the rest of the summer.

Inside Out surpassed the $300 million domestic mark after placing in fourth last weekend with $11.54 million. With the initial rush-for Minions now out of the way, Inside Out stabilized nicely by decreasing just 35 percent from the previous weekend. The 3D computer animated film from Disney and Pixar has grossed $306.25 million in 31 days and is likely to continue to hold up well going forward thanks in part to strong word of mouth and the relative lack of other high-profile animated releases throughout the rest of the summer.

Universal’s Jurassic World rounded out the weekend’s top five with $11.45 million. In the process, the 3D sci-fi adventure sequel became just the fourth film ever to surpass the $600 million domestic mark without adjusting for inflation. Jurassic World reached the $600 million mark in just 36 days; easily making it the fastest film ever to do so. The previous record holder, 2009’s Avatar, reached the mark in 47 days.Jurassic World continues to display strong holding power, especially considering the new direct competition it faced from Ant-Man, as it was down 37 percent. Jurassic World has grossed $611.23 million in 38 days and is just $12.13 million away from surpassing the $623.36 million final gross of 2012’s Marvel’s The Avengers to move into third place on the all-time unadjusted domestic list.

Meanwhile, Terminator Genisys and Magic Mike XXL didn’t hold up anywhere near as well with respective sixth place and seventh place takes of $5.40 million and $4.45 million. Paramount’s Terminator Genisys fell 61 percent from the previous weekend while Warner Bros. Pictures’ Magic Mike XXL was down 54 percent. Terminator Genisys took a direct hit from Ant-Man, while Magic Mike XXL was slowed by the arrival of Trainwreck. Both films continue to under-perform with respective 19-day totals of $80.64 million for Terminator Genisys and $58.58 million for Magic Mike XXL.