QOS is #1 in America!

Hardyboy · November 2008

Good news everyone--no one can say that Bond was beaten by a bunch of animated critters! According to BoxOfficeMojo, Quantum of Solace easily finished first this weekend at the American box office. QoS's estimated take was an impressive $70.4 million, while the African critters made do with just $36 mil. The reviews of QoS may have been mixed, but audiences still love Bond!

urhash · November 2008

?

Madagascar didn't even open this weekend - not really a fair comparison.

Hardyboy · November 2008

urhash wrote:

?

Madagascar didn't even open this weekend - not really a fair comparison.

No, the movies didn't open opposite each other. I'm just remembering two years ago, when Happy Feet edged out CR for--what was it?--three weekends in a row. This is just an acknowledgment that Bond is firmly, officially, undeniably, Number One!

Loeffelholz · November 2008

Yes...

:007)

Damn those Sony/Eon people...their 'delayed release' strategy continues to pay out generous dividends---which means they'll probably do it again for #23 X-(

Luke · November 2008

it also topped off Bourne Ultimatum in 2007.

kinserfan11 · November 2008

#1 Here in usa {[]{[]

jetsetwilly · November 2008

Do they not include Sunday's takings in their weekend scores?

Lazenby880 · November 2008

Fantastic news, and most deserved!

Loeffelholz · November 2008

jetsetwilly wrote:

Do they not include Sunday's takings in their weekend scores?

I think they're estimating Sunday numbers based on the weekend thus far, so there's likely room for error.

Hardyboy · November 2008

Here's more news on QoS's American performance. It's BIG. Source: Hollywood Reporter.

'Quantum of Solace' Sets Boxoffice Record

Best Opening Ever for a Bond Film in North America

Reuters

Nov 16, 2008, 01:13 PM ET

The latest James Bond film "Quantum of Solace," already a big hit overseas, set a new opening record for Bond movies in North America with estimated weekend sales of $70.4 million, distributor Columbia Pictures said on Sunday.

The record for a Bond opening was held by "Die Another Day," which earned $47.1 million across the United States and Canada during its first weekend in November 2002. That film was the last one starring Pierce Brosnan. "Quantum of Solace" and its 2006 predecessor "Casino Royale," which opened to $40.8 million, starred Daniel Craig.

Swiss-German filmmaker Marc Forster directed "Quantum of Solace," in which Bond travels the world battling a villain (French actor Mathieu Amalric) looking to control natural resources. Along the way, the vengeful hero earns the enmity of the British and U.S. spy agencies.

Industry pundits had forecast an opening in the $60 million range for "Quantum of Solace," even though top critics had largely panned the movie.

The film began its international showing two weeks ago, and has earned $251.6 million in 73 countries. A handful of major markets awaits the film, including Japan, Australia and Spain.

"It's totally extraordinary," Columbia Pictures distribution president Rory Bruer said of the film's early boxoffice success. "Everybody is really loving the movie."

Agent Wade · November 2008

I was going to see the 10:30 show on Friday night. My friends bought tickets for them. But as soon as I got up to the booth, I was cockblocked by sell-out. We ended up going to the midnight:30 show instead. It was a PAINFUL two hour wait, I'll tell you that. We had to putz around in an IHOP, and that was quite possibly the most innappropriate kind of food to eat before going to see a Bond movie. X-(

JAMES BOND DOES NOT EAT PANCAKES!!

glidrose · November 2008

Superb news!!! {[]

Waltherppk007 · November 2008

My hope is that this does not invite them to make another movie like the tripe that was visited upon us this go around. James Bourne 5 is not a movie I wish to see.

Higgins · November 2008

to my humble opinion, the earns in the first week have not so much to do with the quality of a movie, it is more the result of the related marketing ramp-up plus the impression, which the predecessor has left in the heads of the audience.

blueman · November 2008

$67.5 mil is what's being reported as the final weekend take.

Huge opening, now let's see if it has legs!

Moonraker 5 · November 2008

Waltherppk007 wrote:

My hope is that this does not invite them to make another movie like the tripe that was visited upon us this go around. James Bourne 5 is not a movie I wish to see.

Not necessarily. Die Another Day was the highest grossing until Casino Royale came along, and look how different those two were. DAD may have made a lot of money, but it was a bit of a stinker.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7735385.stm

Bond film Quantum of Solace is still the most popular movie in the UK and Ireland, making five times more than its closest competition last weekend.

The action-packed thriller took £5.16m between Friday and Sunday, pushing its overall UK takings past the £40m mark.

Computer game adaptation Max Payne, its nearest rival, could only muster £1m in its first three days on release.

Quantum of Solace is also the top film in the US and Canada, where it opened two weeks later than in the UK.

The movie has so far made $317m (£211m) worldwide, according to figures collected by the Box Office Mojo website.

Aside from the top two, no other film released in the UK and Ireland made more than £1m over the weekend.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year dropped down a place to three after four weeks on the chart, putting it just ahead of new US comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Ricky Gervais comedy Ghost Town came fifth.

Indian film Dostana was the only other new entry in this week's Top 10, entering the chart in sixth place.

German drama The Baader-Meinhof Complex performed respectably in 14th place, though, making more on a takings-per-screen basis than eight of the films placed above it.

Quantum of Solace opens in Australia this week, having held its Sydney and Melbourne premieres last weekend.

It will face competition in the UK this weekend from Leonardo DiCaprio thriller Body of Lies, horror movie Quarantine and romantic comedy My Best Friend's Girl.

UK BOX OFFICE TOP 5
1. Quantum of Solace - £5.16m
2. Max Payne - £1m
3. High School Musical 3: Senior Year - £0.97m
4. Zack and Miri Make a Porno - £0.79m
5. Ghost Town - £0.59m
Source: Screen International

Hardyboy · November 2008

BoxOfficeMojo has posted its estimates for the weekend. To no surprise, every 15-year-old girl in North America came out to see Twilight, making it the number one movie at an estimated $70.5 million. BOM puts QoS at #2 at $27.4 m, just edging out Disney's Bolt at an even $27 m. If that holds up it'll be a real surprise, since opening weekends for animated kids' films are notoriously huge.

Anyhoo, BOM estimates that QoS has now made $109.5 m in America, making it the eleventh highest-grossing film of the year; internationally it's made $359.7 m. Not Dark Knight numbers, but not too shabby either!

ycpchief · November 2008

QOS US box office fell 60% in one week. That is really bad. Conventional wisdom is a drop of 50% or more is usually considered bad news. Should it fall by this much next week it may not surpass CR. While it opened big, it seems mixed reviews and word of mouth may be hurting it's box office return in the long run. This is opposite of what happened with CR when it opened to smaller numbers than DAD, but great reviews and word of mouth kept it going so that it eventually passed it. We'll just have to stay tuned and see what happens. As Hardyboy says though, $109 million so far isn't bad.

I'm hoping for a good third week for QOS. My wife and I both enjoyed it.

Barbel · November 2008

ycpchief wrote:

QOS US box office fell 60% in one week. That is really bad. Conventional wisdom is a drop of 50% or more is usually considered bad news. Should it fall by this much next week it may not surpass CR. While it opened big, it seems mixed reviews and word of mouth may be hurting it's box office return in the long run. This is opposite of what happened with CR when it opened to smaller numbers than DAD, but great reviews and word of mouth kept it going so that it eventually passed it. We'll just have to stay tuned and see what happens. As Hardyboy says though, $109 million so far isn't bad.

I'm hoping for a good third week for QOS. My wife and I both enjoyed it.

Quoting what I said in the Quick Review thread:

(3) A lot of non-Bond-fanatic people (hubbies, brothers-in-law, etc) went to see CR to see what the new guy was like, aided by good word-of-mouth and saturation publicity. This time we only have the last of those.

(4) A lot of non-Bond-fanatic people want to see the traditional elements, the formula if you will. That's what they pay their money for, and if they don't get it [the film gets] poor word-of-mouth.

(5) At the end of the day the box-office is what counts. QoS will not flop. Bond films don't flop, period. It has set a UK opening record already. What I fear it will not have is what the industry calls 'legs', and the takings will drop off unlike CRs. Time may prove me wrong, but we'll see.

blueman · November 2008

Still the fastest Bond to $100 mil in the US. Still on track to beat CR's US haul, likely finish up with $190 mil or so.

And it's still #1 internationally.

Actually kinda good news it held it's own so well against the animated flick. The vamp flick will likely have a severe drop, be interesting to see what happens over the holiday weekend.

Loeffelholz · November 2008

Damn those teenybopper vampires

) That film really seems to be something of a cultural phenomenon. My sister-in-law went to see it out in L.A. with some friends, and she reports that the theatre was crammed with 12 and 13 year-old girls, who squealed when the lead actor appeared. The Beatles, in 1964, was her analogy. Still, it only topped the QoS debut last week by a couple hundred grand.

I think these two pictures can co-exist for a couple of weeks; they're not exactly the same audience. I'll bet a lot of guys who dragged their girlfriends to see Bond last week were in Twilight on Friday night, rolling their eyes

)

Hardyboy · November 2008

I'm not that worried about the huge drop-off. We're entering the big Thanksgiving weekend and it looks like it'll be a bloodbath, with Transporter 3 and other big movies coming out. I think EON knew what it was doing in moving QoS's opening to the 14th--it gave Bond the chance to make a pile without all the competition. That said, it's still impressive that the film managed to hold up this weekend in the face of two major releases.

Loeffelholz · November 2008

I'm going to have to watch Transporter 1 one of these days...

blueman · November 2008

Loeffelholz wrote:

I'm going to have to watch Transporter 1 one of these days...

Eh, don't bother. Crank on the other hand is totally awesome.

discovolante · November 2008

First of all, I love the transporter movies. Can't wait for 3...As for the 59% dropoff for QOS, I really think it had everything to do with Twilight and not to do with bad word of mouth. Qos still made more $ than Bolt, and you know how huge Disney movies usually open. I think QOS will have decent legs and do well this holiday weekend. Good news for EON and Sony. I happen to work for a competing studio, and let's just say that we're waiting for The Day the Earth Stood Still and Australia. We need some hits!

HowardB · November 2008

I think QOS will remain at decent numbers through the holiday season (through the New Year). It may even rebound in a couple of weeks. If Transporter 3 is as bad as Transporter 2, it may not fare so well at the boxoffice. Transporter 1 was actually a good action film and a sleeper hit, but not a blockbuster. Craig will actually be competing against himself in mid December when "Defiance" is released in the US. Although it is possible that people who like "Defiance" may decide to check out QOS and vice versa. 2008 looks like it's turning out to be a very good year for Daniel Craig.

Hardyboy · November 2008

BOM has now posted the actuals--they overestimated the top three, so it comes down like this:

Twilight: $69.6 million
QOS: $26.7 million
Bolt: $26.2 million

Worldwide, though, QoS remains #1!

darenhat · November 2008

HowardB wrote:

I think QOS will remain at decent numbers through the holiday season (through the New Year). It may even rebound in a couple of weeks. If Transporter 3 is as bad as Transporter 2, it may not fare so well at the boxoffice. Transporter 1 was actually a good action film and a sleeper hit, but not a blockbuster. Craig will actually be competing against himself in mid December when "Defiance" is released in the US. Although it is possible that people who like "Defiance" may decide to check out QOS and vice versa. 2008 looks like it's turning out to be a very good year for Daniel Craig.

I wouldn't expect to see to much of a rebound, if any at all. As the holiday weekend hits, more films will be released...theaters will most likely cut back on screenings of older films like QoS to make room for newer releases. The less showings, the less revenue. EON was wise to release before Thanksgiving, but I'm not convinced yet that the two-week delay here in the U.S. is going to benefit them. I think they're trying to balance QoS's 'newness' factor with holiday competition for maximum returns, but with such a dramatic drop in second week returns, it might have been better for QoS to have ruled the roost with less competition in early November. Just a thought.

Loeffelholz · November 2008

I'm not going to give up on The Reviled QoS^TM just yet. Sure, it's not Number One in the U.S. anymore...and there's more competition coming out this weekend...and it's as popular, here on AJB, as a house guest carrying the Black Death

...but that doesn't mean it's done making money here in the U.S. of A.

It might not pass CR, when all is said and done, but I think it will be quite close, and is not the total disaster some proclaim it to be. A clearer final analysis will be had, as ever, through the rear-view mirror of history.

darenhat · November 2008

Loeffelholz wrote:

I'm not going to give up on The Reviled QoS^TM just yet. Sure, it's not Number One in the U.S. anymore, and there's more competition coming out this weekend, and it's as popular here on AJB as a house guest carrying the Black Death , but that doesn't mean it's done making money.

It might not pass CR, when all is said and done, but I think it will be quite close, and is not the total disaster some might feel it is.

I didn't say it's done making money. When all is said and done, QoS will have returned it's investment (I think - I don't know what the final budget was). With some observable data, we can track what's normal and what's exceptional. QoS's strong opening now seems kind of average for the season (Twilight's opening beat QoS's by $2 mil) so we can infer that ticket goers may not have necessarily been looking for Bond, but simply for something to see. My guess is that action-fans looking for their next fix are going to move over to Transporter 3, and Twilight's demographic is going to eschew vampires for 'sexiest man alive' Hugh Jackman in Australia. According to BoxOffice Mojo, QoS's number of screens stayed the same (it actually went up by 7 theaters) this past weekend. The drop in $$$ with the same number of theaters, in light of Twilight's success, tells me that audiences are ready for something else.

Loeffelholz · November 2008

I'm not sure it's fair to compare QoS to Twilight, which is the legitimate cultural phenomenon of the moment. That QoS, an ancient franchise, opened in the same financial neighborhood as the teenybopper vampire flick is fairly impressive, IMRO. We'll see if $70 million turns out to be the 'average opening' for the rest of the season.

QOS is #1 in America!

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