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FRIDAY UPDATE, Refresh for latest… Full numbers for Wednesday and Thursday show MGM/Eon/Universal’s James Bond pic No Time To Die at a cumulative $22M through two days of early release at the international box office. That includes $20M from just yesterday in such markets as the UK, Brazil, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. The figures look to put 007 on track to top pre-weekend projections of $90M through Sunday.
In Bond’s home market, the UK, No Time To Die grossed $6.6M on Thursday, accounting for 94% of all box office there. This is the third-highest opening day of the Bond franchise, 14% above Spectre (Monday opening), and just 30% behind Skyfall (Friday opening). The Cary Joji Fukunaga-directed installment now holds UK records for the highest single day gross in September, the highest single day of the pandemic, and the highest single day since Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker opened during the holiday period of December 2019.
As noted in yesterday’s update below, the Daniel Craig-starrer launched with the widest theatrical release of all time in the UK and Ireland, playing in 772 cinemas across 3,600 screens, and will have 9,000 daily shows over the weekend.
In Germany, the opening gross was $2.8M on Thursday from over 1,300 screens, and good for 84% of the total market and more than 10x second-placed Dune (which is in its third frame). This is the biggest opening day of the pandemic, more than doubling Fast 9, and the second-biggest September opening day ever behind local production Fack Ju Goehte 2.
Korea tood a total $1.3M across Wednesday and Thursday, opening with afternoon shows on Wednesday and setting the biggest Culture Day opening for a Hollywood film in 2021 (the last Wednesday of the month).
Denmark grossed $1M on opening day, more than 85% of the market’s total box office; Sweden took $990K.
The Middle East opened NTTD on 985 screens across the region, this is the biggest release there this year. The cume for the region through Thursday is $1.7M.
Netherlands grossed $681K on Thursday, taking 75% of the market and taking more than 10x second-placed Dune (third weekend). This is the fifth biggest Thursday opening of all time, the biggest ever for Universal, the top for a September release, and the biggest of the pandemic. The opening day is just 7% below Spectre, and 48% above Skyfall. This result is despite mandatory health passes and capacity restrictions.
Elsewhere, Switzerland made $615K on Thursday (the biggest opening day of the pandemic, and the biggest September opening day of all time).
Mexico opened to $588K across Wednesday and Thursday, 37% above Skyfall’s opening Thursday. Italy bowed with $573K despite strong Covid restrictions in the market and setting the biggest opening Thursday of the pandemic, and sixth-biggest of the last 10 years of Thursday openings. There is reportedly exceptional performance in Matera where some scenes from the movie were shot.
Hong Kong scored $544K on Thursday, capturing 77% of the market. This is the biggest opening day of the entire Bond franchise, the biggest September opening day of all time, and the biggest non-holiday opening day since the beginning of the pandemic.
Early results from Japan indicate a Friday opening day of $1.7M, the biggest Friday opening day of the Bond franchise, and second-biggest MPA opening day of the pandemic. All major exhibitors are now operating at full capacity with no restrictions on show times.
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PREVIOUSLY, THURSDAY: MGM/Eon/Universal’s highly-anticipated No Time To Die has clocked an estimated $6.2M-$6.8M (£4.5M-£5M) in the UK on its opening day today. Daniel Craig’s final turn as legendary secret agent 007 came in about 13% above Spectre (Monday opening) and just 26% below Skyfall (Friday opening). The Cary Joji Fukunaga-directed pic is enjoying the widest theatrical release of all time in the market with 772 cinemas playing the film amid buzz and excitement aplenty.
More than 30,000 people attended midnight screenings in the UK and Ireland on Wednesday night. No Time To Die sold a spectacular 1.62M advance tickets for the opening four days, surpassing Spectre’s total advance bookings by over 12% and performing in line with Skyfall at the same time pre-release.
The 25th James Bond movie began international box office rollout on Wednesday in Korea, and added the UK today along with majors Germany, Brazil and Italy — we will have updated figures from those markets tomorrow, when Japan, Mexico and Spain also officially start their engines. In total, over 50 offshore markets are going this frame; domestic and further overseas hubs open next weekend and China is dated October 29.
After several pandemic-induced release date changes, audiences are saying, “Mr Bond, we’ve been expecting you.” The UK in particular has been all aflutter with excitement. A lavish, jam-packed and royally-attended world premiere was held at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday night while Vue held an invite-only screening at its Leicester Square venue on Wednesday evening. The film set the record for highest advance sales of all time for the Everyman, Picturehouse and Curzon circuits.
The UK naturally is Bond’s strongest performer and set a series of records on Spectre, which had a seven-day opening including previews; the No Time To Die rollout is different in that it began on a Thursday.
Elsewhere, Korea launched with afternoon shows on Wednesday, grossing a strong $665K from 2,167 screens, by far the widest release of the franchise. Thursday added another $590K for a total of $1.35M so far, and more than 60% of the market.
Mexico‘s first preview day came in at No. 1 with $300K from 2,625 screens. No Time To Die achieved 64% market share, grossing almost 7x the second-placed film. Attendance was strong across the country.
While industry projections factored a roughly $90M opening frame for No Time To Die, some think the Aston Martin could speed past that number. As a reminder, in like-for-like markets at today’s exchange rates, 2015’s Spectre did $123.5M; 2012’s Skyfall came in at $109.2M; and, more recently, Universal’s latest Fast & Furious franchise entry F9 did $69.5M.
No Time To Die will overtake the latter, and if it gets close to either of the last two Bond pics, it will be a huge validation for the film, its partners and the theatrical business.
Many have indicated to us that if any movie can get folks back into cinemas in the pandemic era — and recall that Bond skews slighly older, a demo that has been somewhat reticent to return — the latest in this enduring franchise is the one. Reviews have been great with an 83% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. And even some of those who have complaints agree with the consensus that this is a very fitting and emotional farewell to Craig in his fifth go-round.
We will be back throughout the weekend with updates on No Time To Die’s overseas rollout.