The stakes may be high for Ethan Hunt and his team in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, but it was hardly impossible for the Tom Cruise pic to conquer the box office.

The fifth instalment in the nearly 20-year-old film series has earned an estimated £5.33 million (8.33 million dollars) in its opening weekend in the UK.

It is the third biggest opening from a Mission: Impossible movie, behind Mission: Impossible III and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

In the US the action film took 56 million dollars (£35.9 million).

The Paramount and Skydance Productions film cost a reported 150 million dollars (£96 million) to produce and should have no problem making up its budget, especially with overseas earnings.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros’ Vacation has not had a sunny opening weekend in the US. The comedy sequel to the 1983 Chevy Chase movie, starring Christina Applegate and Ed Helms, has been poorly reviewed. The 30 million dollar (£19 million) film has earned 21.2 million dollars (£13.5 million) since opening last Wednesday.