NORTH AMERICA: 'Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation' Continues to Lead on Monday with $3.32M; 'Fantastic Four' Takes Second with Disappointing $2.26M; 'The Gift' Third with Healthy $1.35M

By Daniel Garris

Paramount's Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation remained in first place at the daily box office on Monday with a daily take of $3.32 million. The fifth installment of the Tom Cruise led action franchise has now led the daily box office for ten of the past eleven days. Rogue Nation was down 61 percent from Sunday and down 51 percent from last Monday. The film continues to run in line with expectations with a solid eleven-day gross of $111.07 million. That places Rogue Nation 28 percent ahead of the $86.98 million eleven-day take of 2006's Mission: Impossible III and 2 percent ahead of the $108.76 million eleven-day total of 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Fantastic Four continued its poor start with a second place take of $2.26 million. Fox's relaunch attempt of the Marvel superhero franchise continues to fall off quickly, as it was down 61 percent from Sunday's performance. Fantastic Four has grossed just $27.95 million in its first four days of release. The film is performing far below pre-release expectations and is very likely to continue to fall off quickly as a result of poor critical reviews, toxic word of mouth and built-in front-loading to begin with. Fantastic Four is running a disappointing 56 percent behind the $63.95 million four-day start of 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

STX Entertainment's The Gift continued its healthy start with a third place take of $1.35 million. The Joel Edgerton directed thriller starring Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall and Edgerton fell 58 percent from Sunday. Thanks in part to strong critical reviews; The Gift is exceeding expectations with a four-day take of $13.21 million. The Gift is performing very similar to the $13.62 million four-day start of The Giver last August and will hope to duplicate the strong holding power of that film going forward.

Warner's Vacation took fourth with $1.121 million. The comedy franchise re-launch starring Ed Helms and Christina Applegate declined 56 percent from Sunday and a solid 39 percent from last Monday. While it is holding up well so far, Vacation is still running significantly below expectations with a thirteen-day start of $38.26 million. That places the film an underwhelming 17 percent behind the $46.09 million thirteen-day take of last year's Let's Be Cops.

Minions rounded out Monday's top five with $1.109 million. The blockbuster 3D computer animated prequel from Universal and Illumination Entertainment was down 50 percent from Sunday and down 45 percent from last Monday. Minions is the fifth highest grossing release of 2015 thus far with an impressive 32-day gross of $303.91 million.

Ant-Man followed very closely behind in sixth place with $1.093 million. The Paul Rudd led 3D superhero film from Disney and Marvel decreased 54 percent from Sunday and a solid 42 percent from last Monday. Ant-Man has grossed $148.61 million in 25 days and will surpass the $150 million mark either today or Wednesday.

Meanwhile, new wide releases Ricki and the Flash and Shaun the Sheep Movie respectively placed in ninth and eleventh with daily takes of $0.766 million and $0.606 million. Sony's Ricki and the Flash was down 57 percent from Sunday, while Lionsgate's Shaun the Sheep Movie was down 50 percent. Ricki and the Flash has grossed $7.38 million in four days and Shaun the Sheep Movie has grossed $6.22 million in six days, as both films are running a bit below their already modest expectations.