The James Bond film with Daniel Craig brought in $60 million during its opening week in Britain, beating out previous record holder "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2."
LONDON – The 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise, Skyfall starring Daniel Craig as 007, has brought in the biggest opening week of all time at the U.K. box office, official figures show.
Eon Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment were trumpeting the fact that Skyfall has made history after seven days on release, racking up $60 million (£37.2 million) at the U.K. box office.
The record haul sees the secret agent action movie overtake previous U.K. record holder Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which had conjured up$57.6 million (£35.7 million), according to box office tracker Rentrak.
The third-biggest U.K. draw for an opening week also belongs to the wizard franchise as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 brought in $40.2 million (£24.9 million).
The big James Bond haul is also notable because the movie was not released in 3D, for which consumers generally pay a slightly higher ticket price. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 benefited from that. By the end of the run of the final installment in the Potter box office run, the movie had garnered almost half (48 percent) of its $117.9 million U.K. gross from 3D tickets.
A Rentrak spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that it is unlikely that Skyfall's box office draw was diminished by not being available in 3D. "The Bond films attract Bond audiences and most don't care about it being in 3D. They'd have all gone anyway," the spokesperson said.
The 23rd Bond film opened in 587 cinemas across the U.K. and Ireland Oct. 26. It is scheduled to open in the U.S. on Nov. 9.
Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli thanked all "the Bond fans and all U.K. cinema audiences for making Skyfall the biggest opening week ever during our 50th anniversary year."
MGM chairman and CEO Gary Barber noted: "The continued record-breaking success of this film is a true testament to all involved and the global power of this 50 year old franchise."
Said chairman of Sony Pictures Worldwide marketing and distribution Jeff Blake: "We couldn’t be more proud of the critical and commercial reaction Skyfall has received."
In the film, Craig returns for his third outing as Ian Fleming’s 007 to find his loyalty to M tested as her past comes back to haunt her. The film is from Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Directed by Sam Mendes, Skyfall was written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan.
