Pamela McClintock of Variety:
Tomorrow never does die for James Bond.
In a historic victory for a film franchise that's nearly half a century old, Sony/MGM's "Quantum of Solace" secured the biggest domestic opening ever for a Bond pic, grossing an estimated $70.4 million from 3,451 runs--74% more than "Casino Royale."
Previous record-holder for best Bond opening was "Die Another Day" ($47 million).
"Solace's" win at the domestic B.O. continues the film's worldwide domination. Through Sunday, the 22nd official Bond pic had earned an estimated $251.6 million at the international B.O. for a worldwide total of $322 million. "Solace"--Daniel Craig's second outing as Agent 007--began rolling out internationally over the Oct. 31-Nov. 2 weekend.
Even competing studios applauded "Solace's" performance as a sign that movie going can withstand the current economic crisis. Domestic box office was up by as much as 50% over the same weekend last year.
Also contributing to the surge was DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's family title "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" as it easily jumped the $100 million mark in its second sesh. Toon declined 43% in its second sesh to an estimated $36.1 million from 3,451 runs for a cume of $118 million.
Universal's sleeper hit "Role Models" declined 39% in its second weekend to an estimated $11.7 million from 2,798 theaters for a cume of $38.1 million.
The specialty side showed also saw strong results as Fox Searchlight's "Slumdog Millionaire" scored the best per theater average of the year for a specialty title. "Slumdog," from filmmaker Danny Boyle," grossed an estimated $350,434 from 10 theaters for a per location average of $35,043 and a cume of $418,131. (Film opened last Wednesday.)
"Solace," directed by Marc Forster, was the only new wide release of the frame as other studios steered clear of the "Royale" follow-up
Released on the same weekend in 2006, "Royale" opened to roughly $40 million on its way to cuming $167 domestically, the best ever for a Bond title.
Heading into the weekend, Sony tried to downplay expectations, as other box office observers predicted, based on tracking, that "Solace" would finish the weekend in the 60s, and perhaps even hit $70 million....
'Solace' continues world domination...
Joshua Rich of EW:
The latest James Bond adventure shook up the box office with $70.4 mil, the best 007 opening of all time...
Ir's hard to imagine that at one time star Daniel Craig was hated as Bond by very vocal fans--even before one frame of film was shot...
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