Cruise rings in New Year at top of box office

LOS ANGELES: Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" topped the North American box office for a second straight weekend, ringing in the New Year with $30 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The action film, the fourth in the series, thus far has taken in $133 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.

In second place was "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," a sequel to the 2009 film about the detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It took in $22.1 million in the third week since its release.

In third place with $18.3 million was "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," the third animated film about the adorable singing critters.

Fourth place went to Steven Spielberg's "War Horse," about the bond between a boy and his horse during World War I, which was expected to reap in $16.9 million.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" -- the Hollywood adaptation of the wildly popular Stieg Larsson novel, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara -- took in $16.3 million for fifth place.

Family film "We Bought A Zoo" starring Matt Damon finished in sixth place, taking in $14.3 million.

Another Spielberg film, "The Adventures of Tintin," about an intrepid Belgian boy reporter, was seventh with $12 million.

Star-studded holiday romance "New Year's Eve" earned $6.7 million for eighth place, while thriller "The Darkest Hour" took ninth place with $4.3 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was "The Descendants" starring George Clooney, which grossed $3.7 million. (AFP)