‘Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation’ tops $20 million on its opening day

Winning the box-office derby on its opening weekend was a foregone conclusion for “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation,” leaving only the question of just how formidable a draw the latest installment in the Tom Cruise-led thriller franchise would be.

Sources privy to prerelease audience surveys pegged the $40-million mark as the outcome, probable for the Paramount and Skydance Productions release’s opening weekend.

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But its estimated domestic take of $20.3 million on Friday, the film’s opening day in nearly 4,000 theaters, suggests that the new “Mission Impossible” could induce moviegoers to spring for $50 million or more before the weekend is finished. Rotten Tomatoes tabulated a 93% positive critics’ rating for this fifth installment in the series, which had a $150-million production budget.

The other picture entering its first weekend with big box-office hopes is “Vacation,” another update of a franchise — this one comical — as the Griswold family, including Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo as mom and dad, retraces the long-ago amusement-park trip chronicled in 1983’s original “Vacation” release.

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Expectations for the Warner Bros./New Line picture, which opened Wednesday, were $25 million or more by the end of the weekend. The estimated Friday gross of $4.5 million brought its total to $10.8 million.

Last weekend’s top three box-office draws were nudged aside by the two new entries as the weekend began but hung on to round out Friday’s top five estimated draws: $3.625 million for “Ant-Man,” $3.6 million for “Minions” and $3.15 million for “Pixels.”

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