'Skyfall' Box Office: Breaks 007 Movie Record, Nears $90 Million
The latest James Bond movie broke the record for the biggest U.S. 007 movie debut, after opening in theatres on Nov. 9.
"Skyfall" grossed $87.8 million in its opening weekend, making Daniel Craig the wealthiest Bond actor ever, according to Yahoo. The PG-13-rated Bond film surpassed the debut weekend of "Quantum of Solace," which gathered $67 million in November of 2008. "Skyfall's" success also gives Sony its ninth No. 1 film of 2012.
The 23rd spy film made a mark in the United Kingdom as well, where it was released on Oct. 26. "Skyfall" opened to an estimated $32.4 million and set a new all-time Saturday attendance record, according to Deadline. It was also the biggest opening of 2012 and the biggest 2D Friday-to-Sunday opening weekend in history in the UK.
The film has the biggest Bond opening ever in the franchise's 50-year history and with the rave reviews it has received so far, though it has been out for less than a week, it is expected that "Skyfall" will easily gross an all-time high for the franchise of $90 million.
"Skyfall" is Daniel Craig's third James Bond film. "Casino Royale," his first film in the franchise, opened with $40.8 million in 2006. The Disney animated film "Wreck-It-Ralph" came in at No. 2 this weekend with $33.1 million for a two-week total of $93.7 million, according to MTV News. Denzel Washington's "Flight" was third with $15.1 million for a $47.8 million two-week total and Ben Affleck's "Argo" was No. 4 with $6.7 million.
"Skyfall" stars Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe. In the film, Bond's loyalty to M (Dench) is tested as her past comes back to haunt her, revealing secrets that might be connected to the new attack MI6 faces. Bond tracks down and destroy the threats though it hits close to home considering his friendship with M.
Craig has signed on for two more 007 films, according to E! Online.
