Mission: Impossible beats Sherlock Holmes

New York - The new saga in the Mission: Impossible film series, starring Tom Cruise, was the most successful Christmas weekend film at the US box office, according to the Hollywood Reporter Monday.

Mission: Impossible - Phantom Protocol beat out Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which stars Robert Downey Jr.

Mission: Impossible, the fourth in the series, took $26.5m over the holiday weekend, compared with $17.8m for the Sherlock Holmes film.

The film of the Stieg Larsson Swedish detective thriller, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, had a disappointing opening, netting just $13m, despite starring James Bond actor Daniel Craig.