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Casino Royale Opens #1 In 27 Countries

[sub]Took in an estimated $82.8 million worldwide over the weekend[/sub]

Looks like my prediction that CR will beat all previous Bond records is still very much on target -

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/

Overseas, 007 was #1 in all 27 countries where it opened, earning $42.2 mil from the UK, Russia, India and small territories in the Mideast and Asia. That's 70% higher than the previous Die Another Day and by far the biggest Bond ever. Worldwide, Casino Royale took in $82.8 mil. It was the #9 all-time UK opening, and the biggest Bond opening ever in the UK by 46%.

YES!! YES!! YES!!

All signs are pointing to my prediction being correct about 70+% of CR's take coming from overseas.

YES!! YES!! YES!!

That's cool. I still wish it had opened at No. 1 in the U.S., though, seeing as how that's what really counts for Hollywood. Still, they should be happy with such a strong performances overseas.

Which was the last Bond film to hit number one in the States, and how many have achieved this feat?

Oh I'm not willing to concede the weekend to the penguins yet, a lot of CR's audience were at college football games yesterday, let's see what they see today when they show up at their local cineplex.

The last Bond film to open at number one in the States was "Die Another Day", its competition was not as fierce though. "Goldeneye" and "Twine" opened at number 1 as well ("Twine" opened against "Sleepy Hollow", also in its first frame). "Tomorrow Never Dies", on the other hand, opened close second to "Titanic".

Overall the US debut of "Casino" is strong but not that impressive. Four years ago "DAD" opened to $47M, 6M more than "Casino", even though ticket prices are now higher. It will be interesting to see how good the word of mouth is on this one.

Let's not kid ourselves, even though EON and Sony are now very proud of "Casino", if it ends up grossing significantly less than "DAD", reajustments are sure to be in order for "Bond 22" !

Die Another Day was number one during it's first weekend, in which it opened during the second week of a Harry Potter film and it might have made number one during its second weekend as well, but i can't remember.

Doubt it, fulgentius, but I guess we'll see.

I'm not sure even that's certain- this site has it at $47 million and Happy Feet at $44:
http://www.showbizdata.com/



It would have to be significantly- don't forget it had a lower budget (thus doesn't have to recoup as much); a longer running time (less shows means less tickets); and a higher rating (more restricted crowd), so I'm not sure its performing slightly less than DAD will surprise many.

Hmmmm...but you are disregarding it being no.1 in most other countries, disregarding that it beat DAD in the UK, and that CR was predicted by the negative-bashers that it would do very badly at the box-office because of the unknown star, and gritty back-to-basics approach.

Also, it still may be No.1 in the U.S. Official figures have not come out yet.

Something tells me you are about to start crying very soon.....

This post has been edited by Jet Set Willy: 19 November 2006 - 19:18

It sounds like it's a monster smash in the rest of the world and a moderate success in the USA. That's normally the case with 007 movies, but the numbers seem more lopsided this time around. Even bigger in other parts of the world, lower in the US.

Needless to say, the worldwide haul is gonna be huge, maybe bigger than DAD, and Craig will certainly be back in the follow up which hopefully just follows the same story.

No, not a very valid comparison. DAD was an over-the-top, wall-to-wall huge budget flick with an established Bond and an Oscar winning name actress that cost about $50 million more to make than CR (and I don't think that's even counting the $20 million they spent on Brosnan & Berry, vs. the, what, $4 million it cost for Craig & Green?) Of course CR was not expected to match DAD. The 'stripped down' Bond flicks never do as well as the 'spectacular' flicks, e.g. FYEO following MR.
The only real comparison here is comparing the numbers to Goldeneye, and CR, even when adjusted for inflation, has made more money on its opening weekend (it also beats the opening take of TND, the other No.2 opener of recent years). So a 3 day debut that falls in the middle of the Brosnan pack is a great start. I also think the legs for CR are going to be good as word of mouth takes off, so I'm not sure why you're getting all pessimistic when CR has only run the first mile of a marathon.




Yeah, I'm seeing some really ambiguous numbers here. The 'weekend estimates' are based on PROJECTIONS of how the movies will do on Sunday. The fact is, as of Sunday morning, CR has made more money at the American box office than Happy Feet. They use the Friday to Saturday 'multiplier' to forecast how things will look for Sunday, its not an exact science. Both films increased in business from Fri to Sat, but Sunday's business hasn't even started yet so nobody knows for sure what's going to happen. We might not know the real deal until Tuesday when the actual numbers come in.

From Jeffrey Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere : "Casino Royale also upticked -- its Friday earnings of $14,904,000 increased by $800,000 the following day when it took in $15,779,000. Saturday business for sequels rarely increase -- obviously a sign of unusual strength for the new 007."