'Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation' Tops Weekend Box Office

Tom Cruise and the cast of "Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation" (Paramount Pictures Photo).

LOS ANGELES - Paramount Pictures' action blockbuster "Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation" lived up to its hype and delivered big numbers for the studio as it topped the weekend box office.

His fifth film in the series, the Tom Cruise starring-vehicle opened in first place, earning an estimated $55.52 million - the second biggest opening for the franchise after 2000's "Mission Impossible II" which opened with $57.8 million and ultimately earning $215 million domestically. The studio had expected "Rogue Nation" to earn between $35 million and $40 million

But the weekend's other new film, the comedy reboot "Vacation," opened to lackluster numbers. The Ed Helms movie earned just $14.68 million from Friday through Sunday. Altogether, the movie made $21.2 million since opening last Wednesday. With bad reviews and little apparent "brand" awareness (who really remembers a silly 30-year-old comedy?), the film did not go over with the comedy crowd many of which opted more for the R-rated "Trainwreck" for the laughs.

Last week's box office champ, "Ant-Man," dropped precipitously to third place, with $12.80 million during the weekend. Since opening three weeks ago, it has earned $132.33 million.

The rest stacked up this way:

4. "Minions" (Universal) $12.39 million for a four-week total of $287.59 million

5. "Pixels" (Sony) $12.50 million for a two-week total of $45.71 million

6. "Trainwreck" (Universal) $9.60 million for a three-week total of $79.61 million

7. "Southpaw" (Weinstein) $7.61 million for a two-week total of $31.67 million

8. "Papertowns" (Fox) $4.64 million for a two-week total of $23.85 million

9. "Inside Out" (Disney) $4.51 million for a seven-week total of $329.51 million

10. "Jurassic World" (Universal) $3.90 million for an eight-week total of $631.60 million