‘No Time To Die’ pulls In $6.6M on U.K. opening day, beating ‘Spectre’

Maybe James Bond can save cinema after all.

The excitement around No Time To Die, which will be playing in roughly 50 foreign markets by Friday a week ahead of its North American launch, appears to have been translated into box office gold, with the film posting spectacular opening day results in the U.K. and elsewhere.

The 25th installment in the storied British spy franchise scored an estimated $6.6 million on Thursday in the U.K. and Ireland as it begins rolling out in more than 50 foreign markets overseas a week ahead of its launch in North America on Oct. 8, according to figures obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

No Time To Die should easily surpass $26 million through Sunday in the U.K., a pandemic-era best. Overall internationally, it is expected to rake in anywhere from $80 million to $100 million, although predictions are tough because of the pandemic.

MGM partnered with British-based EON Productions on the big-budget tentpole, whose release was been delayed numerous times due to the COVID-19 crisis and subsequent lockdowns. Universal is handling the pic in most major markets internationally.

No Time To Die amassed $6.2 million in the U.K. alone, where it is breaking records in receiving the widest release ever. It is playing in 772 cinemas, 25 more than the previous best, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker. The film is also Universal’s widest ever release in that territory.

The impressive figures see No Time to Die‘s opening day in the U.K. come in 13 percent above the last Bond installment, Spectre (which opened on a Monday), and 26 percent below 2012’s Skyfall, which launched on a Friday on its way to becoming the most successful 007 Bond film in the U.K. and at the worldwide box office.

With many cinemas welcoming guests first thing on Thursday morning, more than 30,000 people attended midnight screenings and, according to Universal, 1,620,000 advance tickets were purchased for the opening four days, surpassing Spectre’s total advance bookings by over 12 percent and performing in line with Skyfall at the same time pre-release. Adding to the accolades, No Time to Die set the record for highest advance sales of all-time at the Everyman, Picturehouse and Curzon cinema chains.

On Wednesday, it opened to stellar numbers in South Korea.

The U.K. number is as a welcome relief for British exhibitors, with many having pinned their pandemic recovery hopes on Bond, traditionally a major event in U.K. cinemas anyway but this year coming with the added pressure of being seen as a test for future consumer confidence. Although the following weeks and months will indicate whether this test has passed, operators so far appear delighted. As one cinema exec told THR: “We’re very, very happy.”

Source: hollywoodreporter.com