The new Tom Cruise blockbuster ‘Mission: Impossible III’ has topped the US box office.

The film that also stars Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Jonathan Rhys Meyer made a massive £26million in ticket sales in its opening weekend.

Worldwide the film made £63million however; it has been considered a disappointment in comparison with the first two Mission Impossible films.

Back in the US new comedy ‘RV’ only needed to make £6million to win second place while ‘American Haunting’ came in third making £3.4million. (EntertainmentWise)

Slashfilm.com adds that the film took in over $70.3 million overseas at 7,390 playdates in 57 markers. Tom Cruise is apparently very popular in Asian markets, with South Korea alone accounting for $10.6 million in only 402 engagements. This makes M:I:III the UIP’s biggest opener ever in the market. To give you perspective, the first two Mission: Impossible films didn’t break $58 million overseas in opening weekend. Last summer’s big blockbuster, Batman Begins opened to $42 million in 73 markers (or $166 million when all was said and done).

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‘Mission: Impossible III’ Makes $17 million on Opening Day
The grand opening of one of the most talked about movies of this year has come and gone, and those involved are probably looking forward to the estimates for the first weekend earnings.
Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible III” made $17 million on its first day, after a release in 4,054 theatres, the fourth-widest release for a movie ever. The current estimates say it will gross around $50 million or a bit higher on its opening weekend. The previous “M: I” movies opened with $63.5 million and $78.8 million, respectively, in May 1996 and 2000. (Playfuls.com)

According to ETonline Tom Cruise is more powerful than ever: Premiere magazine has unveiled the annual “2006 Power List” in its June issue (on stands May 16) in which Tom is listed as the highest ranking actor at #13, while Reese Witherspoon takes the top actress ranking at #29. The annual list is a declaration of today’s 50 most influential Hollywood players.
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ET also makes us happy with a story ánd video of Tom & Katie at the premiere of M:I-III at the world famous Chinese Theatre in LA. Click here to read their story ‘The sexy side of M:I-III’ which contains two video links.

qctimes.net says Tom’s terrific in Mission: Impossible III:

The very definition of a popcorn movie, “M:I: III” will have your heart pounding within 20 minutes of the first scene, which in itself is full of suspense. Tom Cruise, regardless of what you think of his personal life, is a talented actor. And that’s evident throughout.
Cruise once again stars as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, who has fallen in love and plans to marry his girlfriend Julia (Michelle Monaghan, “North Country”), a nurse who has no idea of what her boyfriend really does for a living.

During their engagement party, Ethan receives a phone call. Seems that his colleague (Keri Russell) is being held hostage by Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Capote”), a sinister dealer of heaven-only-knows-what. She’s in Berlin, and Ethan’s friend and coworker John Musgrave (Billy Crudup, “Almost Famous”) wants Ethan to go save her.

Ethan and his team, which inclues Luther (Ving Rhames, “Pulp Fiction”), Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, “Match Point”) and Zhen (Maggie Q, “Around the World in 80 Days”) head to Berlin for the mission, which doesn’t go as planned. During their adventure, bad guy Owen has words with Ethan. He promises to find out whether Ethan has a girlfriend or a wife. “Whoever she is, I’m gonna find her. I’m gonna hurt her. And then I’m going to kill you right in front of her,” he declares.

Owen escapes. And then the troupe heads off to the Vatican, where they must capture Owen, who is picking up a mysterious briefcase. And that’s when things become really interesting, with fake identities and heart-stopping action.

Hoffman is terrific as the villain we all love to hate. He’s serious, mean and no-nonsense. Cruise, as Ethan, is emotional, quick-thinking and loyal. It’s great to see these two go up against each other.

J.J. Abrams, who created television’s hit “Lost” and wrote “Joy Ride,” has a hit on his hands. He knows how to show us exotic scenes, from busy streets in Shanghai and the Vatican to wind farms, and he keeps the pyrotechnics and stunts at a maximum level. He tells the story in a flashback, which includes flashbacks within the main flashback, and never confuses the audience along the way.

Prepare yourself. The first of the summer blockbusters has arrived in full force.

Click here to view some pics of the LA premiere (but ignore the comments!) and People and Hollywood.com. Hello! Magazine also has a story about the premiere and Hollywood.com comes with a review.

Black News‘ Kam Williams interviewed Tom. Here’s the complete interview:

KW: What was the inspiration behind this third installment?

TC: I remember as a kid, I would cut grass and dig ditches so that I could have the money to go the movies to see the ones I liked several times. I thought about the potential of this to give an audience a summer experience. I want to kick off their summer.

KW: What makes this sequel special?

TC: I really wanted this one to be more personal. When I started Mission: Impossible, I had never done sequels. But with this, there’s always the potential of a new adventure to go on. I’m fascinated by this genre. And when J.J. Abrams came on board, I was so excited, because I had seen his work before. Here’s this filmmaker who also loves this genre, knows it better than anyone, and has this incredibly unique voice. He can tell a story in the way of the great pulps of the Twenties and Thirties. Very tight, layered, relevant and resonant, but not pretentious.

KW: As a producer, how do you go about handing the reins of the Mission: Impossible franchise to a first-time director?

TC: Hey, this is J.J. Abrams. When J.J. came on, I said, “Look, there’s no constraints. I want to know what you want to do with this. I believe in you as a filmmaker.”

KW: Were you a very hands-on producer?

TC: When I work, I’m the actor. I’m going to do my job. I’m not going to direct the movie. If I wanted to direct it, I would direct it. I wanted J.J. Abrams to direct Mission: Impossible. I work with people that I respect. I expect them to do their jobs, and I will do mine. And I am there as a producer to help in any way, but no one makes a movie by themselves. It’s a collaboration.

KW: How do you find your comfort level with a director?

TC: It’s understanding J.J.’s vision. What does he want? Are we aligned? And to keep that alignment there. I do want that chemistry when I’m working, that contribution to the story. I felt that with Steven [Spielberg], and I felt that immediately with J.J. That’s what it’s about.

KW: What sort of chemistry did you share with J.J. collaborating on this film?

TC: It was fun creating it together, and designing it. Every time J.J. would create a sequence, I was like, “Man, I can’t wait to figure out how we’re going to do this.” And that’s part of the fun of it.

KW: So, you two focused on choreographing the action sequences together?

TC: We didn’t talk about the action sequences. The action was fine. Action was actually the last thing we talked about with Mission: Impossible. Not the first thing. We made an agreement not to discuss any action sequences, at all, until we nailed the story. My intention and my hope was always to add more to the personal aspects of the picture.

KW: So, it sounds like J.J. was very enthusiastic about directing.

TC: He has an enthusiasm about everything. He is literally a creative force. He creates art all the time, writing… drawing… And his ideas and discipline of storytelling and structure are always right on track. That’s what I want in a collaboration. I expect everyone I’m working with, down to Craft Service, the P.A.s, to do their jobs and enjoy it. Let’s get real, I have the best, I can’t even call it a job, the best life in the world. I get to do something that I love. I think it’s a privilege to be able to make movies. That’s something that I have never taken for granted. And I get that with J.J. So, yes, I do want that chemistry. That’s what I’m looking for. That doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges, because there are huge problems that you have to all come together to solve. We spent a year and a half thinking and talking about my scene with Michelle Monaghan on top of the roof, discussing the conceptual, emotional feeling that we want from the film. And then suddenly, it just evolves. You create it on the spur of the moment. And it becomes everything you wanted but even more. And it’s different from what you ever thought it was going to be. I love the surprises in the collaboration of filmmaking.

KW: How did Michelle Monaghan come to play your wife?

TC: I met her when I was shooting War of the Worlds. She’s just a lovely, talented actress, and very real. And she brings an obvious beauty, and a real sense of decency and humanity. You just want to be around her. You enjoy being around her.

KW: And why did you settle on Philip Seymour Hoffman as the villain?

TC: Look at his range, from the nurse in Magnolia to… just look at all of his characters. He’s just one of the great American actors. Here, you see him play this bad guy who is a badass. This guy is beyond tough, and it was so much fun playing the scenes with him.

While in Paris to promote Mission: Impossible III, Tom Cruise skipped a press conference on Wednesday to go shopping baby clothes for his daughter, Suri, according to organizers.
He didn’t disappoint his fans, though. The 43-year-old actor arrived by helicopter at La Defense, the high-rise complex on the western edge of Paris, where thousands of fans who turned up to see de film’s premiere. Cruise took his time to treat them with autographs.

Earlier, at the news conference, movie co-star Michelle Monaghan was asked by director J.J. Abrams what was like to kiss Cruise with Katie Holmes on the set.
Was it weird?, Abrams asked. No way, she replied. Just in general to kiss Tom Cruise is, you know … an experience of a lifetime, she jested. I highly recommend it. … I said to Katie, ‘I understand why you keep him around’. (playfuls.com)

pr-inside.com:
Actress KERI RUSSELL is grateful to co-star TOM CRUISE for protecting her when they filmed dangerous stunts for blockbuster sequel MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III. The former FELICITY star was appearing in her first action film and looked to the veteran star for support as she got to grips with the rigorous demands of her biggest role yet.

She explains, “Tom is so into doing the stunts and he’s so good at them, so most of the things I do are with him. They’ll take like eight hours to set up. We’ll be jumping off the top of this building in downtown LA onto a moving van. He’s in a harness, I’m in a harness and I’m hanging onto him as we jump off. Two minutes before we’re about to do this, they come up and say, ‘Now if you don’t want to do this, we can take the two hours and take it all down. Like I can say no! Tom is waiting! The thing is, Tom has done it for so long and is so good at it, it kind of felt safe being with him. I figured they’re not going to kill Tom Cruise, so if I’m with him, I’m safe!”

And I found an interview with director J.J. Abrams at Moviehole.net which is also a little about M:I-III . Calendarlive.com is more specific about how J.J. Abrams became the director of the next M:I-movie. Nice story! Some phrases:

Tom Cruise was so determined to get J.J. Abrams to direct the third installment of his “Mission: Impossible” franchise that he persuaded Paramount Pictures to put the project on hold for a year. He also helped persuade Steven Spielberg to move up production on “War of the Worlds” and postpone work on “Munich” to accommodate Abrams’ schedule.
Once he finally stepped behind the cameras, Abrams found himself wondering how he, a neophyte filmmaker who had come to fame on the small screen creating the influential television hits “Lost” and “Alias,” had ended up on the set of a $165-million Tom Cruise movie.

“The conversations” were that with just weeks before production was to commence on “Mission: Impossible III,” director Joe Carnahan (“Narc”) was off the film and Cruise wanted Abrams as his replacement. The switch would cost Paramount some $30 million in sunk costs.

Cruise and Spielberg previously had wanted Abrams, whose screenplay credits include “Regarding Henry,” “Forever Young” and “Armageddon,” to rewrite “War of the Worlds.” But Abrams wasn’t available to work on that movie as he was in the middle of the “Lost” pilot.
All the same, Cruise and Abrams hit it off.
Then Cruise watched the first two seasons of “Alias,” which, Abrams explains, was partially inspired by the “Mission: Impossible” TV show. The actor apparently liked what he saw.
“He invited me and my wife to a concert one night, and I invited him to my birthday party,” Abrams said. “He came, hung out and was one of the last to leave. It was like — ‘How the hell is Tom Cruise at our house?’ ”

“I met with Tom and Paula, and Tom gave me that ‘Risky Business’ smile and said, ‘Do you want to do it?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I want to do it. But what is it? What’s the story? I haven’t read the script,’ ” Abrams said.
Abrams gave the script a look: “I felt my heart sink.” Abrams believed the first two “Mission: Impossible” movies had not captured the quintessential spirit of the TV series, and he found the screenplay for the third film too dark, too political, too impersonal.
“I’m just not the guy to make that movie,” Abrams said he told Cruise after reading the script. “And he said, ‘What would you want to do?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know exactly, but I know I want to do a much more personal story, something more character-based than mission-based.’ I thought he would say, ‘Well, we have to shoot in two months. Next time, we’ll do something.’ But he said, ‘Let’s do that version.’ ”

ET again has VIDEO’S of Tom’s Paris Premiere! Three video’s – of Tom at the premiere in Paris, in London and Rome! Sky has pics, go to the sites to watch!