It might be no time to die, but Daniel Craig‘s tenure as 007 comes to a close with a bang! No Time To Die, the twenty-fifth James Bond flick and Craig’s fifth, nabbed $56 million at the North America box office. The picture had previously opened in some foreign markets, so its North American haul brings its global tally to $313.6M.
This is the fourth-highest opening of the 007 franchise, coming in behind Skyfall ($88.3M), Spectre ($70.4M), and Quantum of Solace ($67.5M), but keep in mind (in case you forgot) we’re in a pandemic. (Out of the U.S., only Delaware has 100% of its movie theatres open! Some major areas in Canada are still under lockdown!) This is also the longest Bond film, at 2 hours and 43 minutes, which cuts into the number of showings multiplexes can offer. (It could also cut into some folks’ desire to even sit through it.)
Reviews are great with an 84% Rotten Tomatoes ranking and an 88% certified audience score. Exiting audience members gave it an 83% positive score with a 63% “definite recommend” via PostTrak. The Bond franchise stretches back to the 1960s, so it has a large number of older fans, many of whom turned out for No Time To Die, making it their first visit to a theatre in two years.
Said UAR President of Distribution Erik Lomis:
“A lot of people came out and saw this movie, and it was the first movie they went back to the cinemas for. No Time to Die will play and play. They’ll tell friends how much fun they had at the theater, and then they’ll come back.”
In contrast, a large number of younger fans turned out for the theme song by Billie Eilish who promoted the film to her 172.8M social media followers. (That’s more than any of the film’s stars.)
In its second weekend, Venom: Let There Be Carnage earned an additional $32M– an impressive hold (down 64%) considering that this sequel appeals to a lot of the same audience as No Time To Die and that Venom lost its large format screens to the new Bond.
Top Five:
- No Time to Die (United Artist Releasing) – $56M/Wk 1
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Sony) – $32M/Total $141.66M/Wk 2
- Addams Family 2 (United Arist Releasing) – $10M/Total: $31.1M/Wk 2
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Disney) – $4.2M/Total: $212.5M/Wk 6
- The Many Saints of Newark (New Line) – $1.45M/Total: $7.4M/Wk 2
Lower in the Top Five, The Addams Family 2 and The Many Saints of Newark are holding up pretty well considering both were released to streaming day-and-date. (And The Many Saints of Newark is available for free on HBO Max and is a prequel to the TV series The Sopranos, so many fans of the original series probably feel that the TV is where this belongs.)
In time for Halloween, next week sees the release of Halloween Kills, which may slay No Time To Kill, although these films have different demographics, with horror appealing to a younger audience and skewing more female. As stated, 007 attracts an older crowd and older people don’t always rush out on opening weekend, but rather trickle in more slowly over the span of several weeks.
Do you think Michael Myers will slay 007 at the box office? Or are you just counting down the days ’til Dune?