Box Office Report: Troubled Year Ends on Up Note; Tom Cruise's 'M:I 4' Still Leads

Paramount's Tom Cruise-starrer Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol topped the Friday box office with a strong $10.7 million, putting the movie on course to end the long holiday weekend with a total domestic haul of $142.9 million.

Overseas, Ghost Protocol has already jumped the $200 million mark. The fourth outing in the film franchise was directed by Brad Bird, and also stars Jeremy Renner.

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Warner Bros.' Robert Downey Jr.-Jude Law sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and 20th Century Fox's threequel Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked stayed at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Game of Shadows, returning Guy Ritchie to the director's chair, grossed $7.7 million on Friday for a projected domestic cume of $137 million through Monday, a national holiday.

Chipwrecked grossed $7.1 million Friday for a projected domestic total through Monday of $99 million to $100 million. Both Game of Shadows and Sherlock have made up ground after muted openings over the Dec. 16-18 weekend.

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The three-day weekend is predicted to be up 4 percent to 5 percent over last year. Four-day comparisons are difficult since Monday is a national holiday this year; last year, New Year's Day fell on a Saturday.

Sony's R-rated adult drama continues to hold at No. 4 at the holiday box office, grossing $5.4 million on Friday. The David Fincher-directed film, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, is expected to end Monday with an estimated gross of $60 million. MGM is a partner on the film.

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Fox's second holiday film We Bought a Zoo, directed by Cameron Crowe and starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, came in No. 5 on Friday, grossing $4.9 million for a projected domestic cume through Monday of $45 million.

We Bought a Zoo, designed to be an all-audience film, has lagged since its debut on Dec. 23, and remains bunched in with fellow family friendly films War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin, both directed by Steven Spielberg.

War Horse, opening on Christmas Day, grossed $4.7 on Friday for projected domestic cume of $41 million to $42 million through Monday.

Tintin, opening on Dec. 21, grossed $4.4 million on Friday for a projected cume through Monday of $51.4 million. The film is a runaway success overseas, where it has earned nearly $250 million.

Zoo cost just under $50 million to produce, while Tintin cost well north of $100 million. War Horse's production budget was north of $70 million.