‘Skyfall’ Has a View to a Box Office Killing

Scott Harris November 11, 2012

The James Bond franchise celebrated its 50th anniversary in style this weekend, as the 23rd entry in the series, “Skyfall,” absolutely crushed the box office, earning a staggering $87.8 million in its debut weekend.

That amount is not only by far the biggest opening ever for a Bond film, easily dwarfing the $67.5 million brought in by 2008′s “Quantum of Solace,” but combined with vigorous overseas receipts it could already push “Skyfall” over the $500 million mark worldwide.

Considering that it was bolstered by a rare “A” Cinemascore grade from viewers, it’s likely that “Skyfall” will also enjoy a long run at the box office, though with “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ set to open later this week, it’s unlikely “Skyfall” will be able to hold onto first place domestically.

Both films will also face a stiff challenge from Steven Spielberg’s historical drama “Lincoln,” which opened this weekend in extremely limited release — just eleven theaters — and returned an astounding per screen average of $78 thousand.

Add in strong holds from last weekend’s biggest films, “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Flight,” and you have a crowded box office that was up over 20% compared to last year’s figures.

Here’s a look at the full box office chart, courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. “Skyfall” – $87.8m (our review)
2. “Wreck-It Ralph” – $33m (our review)
3. “Flight” – $15.1m
4. “Argo” – $6.7m (our review)
5. “Taken 2″ – $4m (our review)
6. “Here Comes the Boom” – $2.6m (our review)
7. “Cloud Atlas” – $2.5m (our review)
8. “Pitch Perfect” – $2.5m (our review)
9. “The Man with the Iron Fists” – $2.5m (our review)
10. “Hotel Transylvania” – $2.4m (our review)