Good Start For Skyfall in China

Skyfall is winding down at the US box office and movie theaters across the world, but in China it just opened on Monday adding another $5.1 million to its total gross. That’s three times what Quantum of Solace did and a good 14% increase over The Dark Knight Rises which also opened in China on a Monday. Factoring this in to Skyfall’s worldwide total, it currently sits at $1.046 billion.

This past weekend Skyfall passed the $300 million mark in the United States.

Skyfall Tops Thunderball

It’s old news that Skyfall became James Bond’s first billion dollar film, but if you adjusted for inflation (consumer price index), Thunderball was still on top in box office gross. Until today. Skyfall has finally managed to pass Thunderball’s $1.031 billion. Skyfall currently has $1.032 billion which is also (unadjusted) good enough for 11th all-time worldwide. And it still has China to go which will likely push 007’s 23rd film past this year’s The Dark Knight Rises making it #2 for 2012 behind The Avengers.

In the United States Skyfall is just shy of $300 million and should cross that mark by next weekend.

Rumour: Activision No Longer Has James Bond Licence

In 2006 Activision picked up the James Bond licence from MGM Interactive and had the exclusive rights till 2014, but it looks like that deal may now be over. At the center of the rumour is Valve Corp’s Steam digital distribution platform which no longer sells any James Bond games leading some sites to speculate that Activision no longer has the rights to sell any Bond licenced game.

Though nothing is official yet, the last few Bond game releases have seen lackluster sales. 007 Legends and GoldenEye: Reloaded developer Eurocom was shutdown late last year and the year prior Bizarre Creations, developer of Blood Stone, was shutdown as well. All of this flying in the face of the cinematic iteration which has arguably never done better.

YouTube’s Top 10 Viewed Trailers of 2012 Includes 2 From Skyfall

Just an interesting fact: according to Google, 2 of Skyfall’s trailers were some of the most viewed trailers of 2012 on YouTube. Both the “Teaser” and the “Official Trailer” made the list at #9 and #4 respectively. The Dark Knight Rises was the only movie on the list to best 007. The top 2 spots went to Call of Duty: Black Ops II, as well as #8 and #10 (sheesh).

The list:
1. “Surprise” – Official Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Live-Action Trailer
2. Reveal Trailer – Official Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
3. The Dark Knight Rises – Official Trailer #3 [HD]
4. SKYFALL – Official Trailer
5. Ted – Trailer
6. The Hunger Games Theatrical Trailer #2
7. Revolution – Trailer
8. Multiplayer Reveal Trailer – Official Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Video”
9. SKYFALL – Official Teaser Trailer
10. Launch Trailer – Official Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Video

Inflation Adjusted, Skyfall Passes Goldfinger

Adjusting for inflation is tricky, but using the US rate of inflation (consumer price index) Skyfall has managed to surpass Goldfinger ($931,983,650) to become the #2 James Bond film. Thunderball still sits at #1 with $1.036 billion by the same method, but its record could be threatened depending on how well Skyfall performs next month when it opens in China. This week Skyfall added another $12 million outside the United States to bring its overseas total to $678.7 million. That ranks 11th all-time or 3rd all-time among 2D-only films with only Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ahead of it. Combined with its US cume, Skyfall sits at $951 million worldwide and should reach at least $980 million before China adds to its total.

Despite The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opening in the United States this weekend, Skyfall still managed to add $7 million to its US total. That brings Skyfall’s total to $272 million. Skyfall should end its run in the States somewhere over $290 million.

If you want to do a little saber rattling, The Hobbit’s record setting December opening of $84 million is less than Skyfall’s November opening of $88 million. Numbers are fun.

Skyfall Takes #1 Again

In its 5th week in the United States, Skyfall managed to wrestle its way back to the top of the box office pile beating out Twilight, Rise of the Guardians, and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln adding about $11 million to its U.S. cume. Skyfall now has $261.6 million in the United States. By tomorrow it’ll top The Amazing Spider-Man to become Sony’s #1 film for 2012.

Speaking of being Sony’s #1 film, Skyfall added another $20 million from overseas markets to push the 23rd James Bond film to $918.2 million worldwide. This makes Skyfall Sony’s highest grossing film worldwide beating out Spider-Man 3 (2007).

Box Office Mojo still claims Skyfall is on track to close out its U.S. run with approximately $290 million. and should be able to get to at least $950 million before launching in China next year.

Skyfall is UK’s Highest Grossing Film of All Time

40 days after being released to high critical praise Skyfall has risen to beat Avatar’s record setting £94 million at the UK box office. It took Avatar 11 months according to Empire to get to that record. The 23rd film in the 50 year-old franchise now sits at $871 million worldwide. $248 million comes from the US where (if only for today) Skyfall recaptured the lead at the box office from Twilight’s latest release.

According to Box Office Mojo, Skyfall will easily pass $950 million worldwide before opening in China next year. Skyfall is also projected to cross $280 million in the United States by the end of its run.

Billion Dollar Bond Within Reach?

Time for another Skyfall Box Office update. Taking full advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, Skyfall supplanted Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale to become the biggest James Bond film ever in America. It currently sits at $221 million, which is well above Quantum of Solace’s previous record of $168 million. Skyfall took in another $36 million in its 3rd weekend which is quite impressive. That’s more than this year’s The Dark Knight Rises and actually places it 6th on the all-time “top 3rd weekend list” (yes there is a list for that). Box Office Mojo now predicts that Skyfall could pass $270 million.

Worldwide, Skyfall has reached $790 million adding another $41.3 million to its tally outside of the US. This weekend it opened in Australia where Sony had their best-ever opening with $12.5 million. In the UK, its total has reached $144.5 million, only $5.5 million shy of the UK’s all-time record currently held by Avatar. According to Box Office Mojo, Skyfall should pass $900 million in its existing markets, but it still has Japan and China where the two could combine to push Bond over the one billion mark. In case you’re keeping track, adjusting worldwide figures is not a simple task, but if you simply take Thunderball’s $141 million (1965) and adjust at the US rate of inflation (consumer price index) that puts Thunderball at $1,036,887,630. Goldfinger (1964) would follow at $931,983,650. Skyfall currently ranks #3.

Skyfall Still Flying Sky-High at the Box Office

Skyfall’s second weekend in the United States dropped approximately 53% from the previous weekend, but still put up a healthy $41.5 million and carried 007’s 23rd adventure into the Top 10 for 2012 with $161 million. According to Box Office Mojo, Skyfall will pass Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace’s total US box office take by Wednesday making it the the #1 James Bond film in the United States. Skyfall is projected to easily pass $200 million and could even make a run for $250 million.

Worldwide, Skyfall crushed its predecessors to become the #1 James Bond film (not adjusted for inflation). It also helped Sony Pictures post their biggest movie year ever, passing $4 billion with the help of The Amazing Spider-Man and Men in Black 3. MGM recently stated that they expect Skyfall to make $800 million, while last week Box Office Mojo predicted approximately $900 million. The film currently sits around $669 million.

So how is Skyfall doing at home? It currently ranks #2 on UK’s all-time list passing Toy Story 3 and Titanic this week. Only Avatar stands in its way. Skyfall already owns “biggest UK opening weekend”, “fastest film to reach £50 million”, and “highest grossing film of the year in the UK” among (similar) others.

Skyfall Dominates the Box Office

The 23rd James Bond film, Skyfall, has taken in a hefty $87.8 million for its first weekend in the United States. Add in its Thursday IMAX premiere and Skyfall sits at a comfortable $90 million putting it on track to be the biggest Bond (not adjusted for inflation).

Bond’s biggest triumph so far though is its overseas sales, so far racking up $428 million. Even adjusting for inflation that puts Skyfall in Bond’s overseas top 10 in a very small amount of time. According to Box Office Mojo, Skyfall has taken in $117.5 million in the UK alone making it the #1 film for the year in its home country and putting it on track to surpass Avatar’s $150 million all-time record.

Add it all up and Skyfall is already sitting at $518.6 million worldwide, just shy of Casino Royale’s $599 million Bond record. Box Office Mojo is currently projecting Skyfall to make a run for over $900 million which would make Skyfall the third highest grossing Bond film (adjusted for inflation), perhaps shy of Goldfinger, but still behind Thunderball’s billion dollar record.

Further reading:
Box Office Mojo
Deadline Hollywood