MUMBAI: The Tom Cruise-starrer Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol grossed an estimated $68.2 million.

The fourth entry in the action franchise played in 6,079 sites in 36 markets. South Korea led a string of number one debuts on $11.1m from 948 venues over four days, followed by Japan on $9m from 343 over three and Russia on $6.1m from 680.

Ghost Protocol scored the biggest launch in history on the UAE on $2.4mn from 27 sites. It launched on $5.2m in France from 616 and topped the charts in Australia on $4.2m from 240. The combined Middle Eastern total amounts to $3.5m for the biggest opening weekend for any film in the region.

DreamWorks Animation‘s Puss In Boots took another giant stride towards the $200m mark as $30.4m through PPI from 6,054 sites propelled the running total to $188.2m. The film opened in Italy on $3.3m from 385, while Germany led holdover business with $4.9m from 693 for $13m.

In the third weekend in France $3.7m from 1,049 pushed the tally to $19.4m. Puss In Boots stands at $12.2m in Brazil and has reached $10.3m in Mexico after three, $7.7m in Australia and $6.6m in the UK and an excellent $4.7m in Argentina, all after two.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows launched in six markets through Warner Bros Pictures international and generated $14.7m from 2,113 screens. The UK led the way with a $5.8m number one debut from 1,040 followed by Italy on an outstanding $5m number one from 575.

Fox International reported that Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked launched in 38 markets day-and-date with North America to bring in $14.5m from 3,815 screens. Only six of the markets were top 16 markets and these included $4m from the UK from 756 screens for number two and $1.6m from 1,022 in Mexico for number one. The Spanish debut delivered a $1.5m number two finish from 364.