As everyone expected, MGM‘s latest Bond film stands at the top of the heap this weekend, with many noting it’s the largest opening for a Bond film ever. The 20th movie in the blockbuster franchise grossed an estimated $47m from around 3,300 theaters.

Few point out that while The World is Not Enough made the most money in absolute terms (Die Another Day surpassed its opening), the real Bond sensation was Thunderball, the 1965 release that scored over $425m in current dollars. (That’s for 75 million admissions, another figure Bond 19 and 20 won’t top.)

Back in the present, more competition: there’s still a chance Mr. Potter will pull out the weekend when the actuals are released on Monday. (Bond was actually the #2 film for Saturday.)

And in other news, Eminem took another tumble in his third week, down nearly 55% with $8 million.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 24th, 2002 at 11:46 pm and is filed under Film.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.