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Truly the most impossible mission during this holiday season was for the previously unforgiven Tom Cruise to have the most popular title at the box office. This is exactly what has transpired, as Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol wins its second consecutive weekend with $30 million for the Friday-to-Sunday portion of the holiday. The Brad Bird action film will have another phenomenal day of box office tomorrow, as most people have Monday as their New Year’s Day holiday. It has been #1 every day since it went into wide release (December 21st), for a total of 12 days in that position (the Twelve Days of Box Office!).

Dominating the most lucrative period on the box office calendar has allowed the film to jump from $16.5 million after five days in exclusive IMAX exhibition to $133 million after only 17 days in theaters. Ghost Protocol has already matched the $133.5 million that Mission: Impossible III earned during its entire domestic run. The Mission: Impossible franchise and Tom Cruise in general have always done well overseas, earning at least $250 million in those venues. Given the way international box office has expanded, Mission: Impossible 4 has a strong chance to surpass Mission: Impossible 2’s $546 million to become the top earner in the franchise thus far.

The announcement that there would be a fourth Mission: Impossible project was met with skepticism bordering on derision. Yet, Paramount has redeemed and reinvigorated the franchise. Mission: Accomplished.

Our second place finisher for the weekend (and the Christmas holiday season) is Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. It’s losing the daily battles, but the war remains remarkably close between the Robert Downey Jr. detective film and M:I4. It earned $22.1 million during the Friday-to-Sunday portion of the weekend, bringing its overall domestic total to $132.1 million. The $125 million production was the presumptive choice for top action movie of the holiday season, but as was the case in 2009 when the original film got crushed by Avatar, its thunder has been stolen. The two-time box office silver medalist has fallen well short of its predecessor’s $165.2 million after 17 days.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is also an instance of history repeating itself. The Squeakquel was the family choice slotted behind two popular action films, Avatar and Sherlock Holmes. The children’s film went about its business with little attention, never finishing higher than third for a weekend. Still, when the final results were tallied, its $219.6 million edged Sherlock Holmes’ ultimate domestic total of $209 million. That may prove ambitious for Chipwrecked, but it is again the third choice behind two more popular action flicks during the holiday season. It has also again held extraordinarily well over the holiday season. Another $18.3 million this weekend is an increase of 45% from last weekend’s $12.6 million. It’s also not that far behind the film’s opening weekend $23.2 million. After 17 days in theaters, Chipwrecked has earned $94.6 million. While it is far short of the Squeakquel’s $165.4 million in the same number of days, the third movie in the series has proven to be a perfect holiday season release.

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