Claiming the pole position for the second straight week, “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” finds itself perched in the top spot at the box office to begin the New Year’s weekend of December 30, 2011 – January 1, 2012.
The Tom Cruise and Paula Patton fronted action film pulled in an estimated $ 10.7 million on Friday while expected to bring in a solid total of $ 28.2 million during its third weekend of release.
With little change being seen from the Christmas weekend placings, the runner-up slot is occupied once more by the Guy Ritchie directed sequel “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” as the Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr starring motion picture made $ 7.4 million on Friday while trending towards a weekend take of $ 20.8 million.
Rounding out the top five at the box office in estimated weekend totals are the family friendly film “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked” ($ 18 million), followed by the Daniel Craig/Rooney Mara led offering “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” ($ 13.9 million) and the Scarlett Johansson/Matt Damon co-starring family dramedy “We Bought a Zoo” ($ 13 million).
