‘Mission: Impossible’ returns, topping North America box office

LOS ANGELES: The seventh installment of the ´Mission Impossible´ franchise was No 1 at North American box offices this weekend, Sunday estimates showed, scaring off horror flick “Insidious: The Red Door” from last weekend´s top spot.

Paramount´s “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One,” the latest in the long-running series starring Tom Cruise, brought in $52.6 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported.

David A. Gross, of Franchise Entertainment Research, called the opening “roughly average for an action thriller at this point in its series.” “Foreign markets are where action movies excel, and the overseas openings are strong, with the exception of China, which is good-not-great,” Gross added. Coming in at second place this weekend was “Sound of Freedom,” a controversial action thriller from Santa Fe Films and Angel Studios.