After getting a head start by opening overseas to boffo business, Skyfall – the 23rd installment of the long-running James Bond series – continued its global dominance by opening in the States and posting record-breaking numbers.
Directed by Sam Mendes, Skyfall rode incredibly positive reviews and strong word-of-mouth from international audiences to a whopping $87.8M opening in the U.S. It is the highest opening-weekend number for the 007 series, besting the $67.5M posted by Quantum of Solace back in 2008. Even more impressive, Skyfall more than doubled the $40.8M earned by Casino Royale in Daniel Craig’s debut Bond thriller.
MGM and Sony blitzed the theaters this weekend, rolling Skyfall into 3,505 locations. And the sequel just kept rolling overseas. To date, it has earned an estimated $518.6M. It has a little bit longer to go to top Solace’s $586M global number, and it will become the highest-grossing Bond movie of all time.
In its second weekend in theaters, the animated Wreck-It Ralph beefed up its totals by adding an additional $33M to its gross. Losing only 32% from its opening totals, Ralph now has $93.6M in the bank, and should continue to do well until Rise of the Guardians opens in theaters later this month.
Robert Zemeckis’ Flight also held on to a decent amount of its initial audience. After adding $15.1M this weekend, the Oscar hopeful now has $47.7M (against its $31M budget) but might start losing steam once the rest of the awards contenders start opening over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Speaking of, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln – which expects to contend in several major Oscar categories – opened in limited release this weekend (11 theaters) and posted $900,000. That bodes well for the historical drama when it expands to more theaters next Friday.
Here’s the full Top 10 list for the weekend:
MOVIE / WEEKEND / TOTAL
1. Skyfall, $87.8M, $90M
2. Wreck-It Ralph, $33M, $93.6M
3. Flight, $15.1M, $47.7M
4. Argo, $6.7M, $85.7M
5. Taken 2, $4M, $131.2M
6. Here Comes the Boom, $2.5M, $39M
7. Cloud Atlas, $2.5M, $22.7M
8. Pitch Perfect, $2.5M, $59M
9. The Man with the Iron Fists, $2.4M, $12.7M
10. Hotel Transylvania, $2.3M, $140.9M
