Moviegoers turned out in strong numbers over the weekend for the well-reviewed fifth chapter in Paramount's "Mission: Impossible" series, which sold about $56 million in tickets. But it was an unexpected misfire that caught Hollywood's attention: "Vacation" (Warner Bros.) became the fourth R-rated comedy of the summer to receive the cold shoulder from a wide audience.

There has been a lot of shock. Where is the awe?

"Vacation," marketed with images of its stars smeared in feces, took in $14.9 million, for a total of $21.2 million since arriving on Wednesday, or about 35 percent less than most box-office analysts had expected. Warner Bros. and its New Line unit decided to release "Vacation" at the end of July because they had success in 2013 on a roughly similar date, when their R-rated "We're the Millers" collected $37.9 million over its first five days.