"Skyfall" shattered the record for the biggest U.S. 007 movie debut with its $87.8 million opening weekend, leaving no doubt that Daniel Craig is the most bankable Bond ever.
Last week's No. 1 film, Disney's animated family film "Wreck-It Ralph," was No. 2 with $33.1 million from 3,752 screens raising its overall gross to $93.6 million. Those two films drove the overall box office, which was running about 25 percent ahead of the comparable weekend last year, when "The Immortals" led the way with $32 million.
The huge haul for Sony's PG-13-rated "Skyfall" exceeded the projections of analysts and easily surpassed the debut weekend of "Quantum of Solace," which bowed to $67 million in November of 2008.
"Skyfall" gives Sony its ninth No. 1 film of 2012.
With the worldwide total for "Skyfall" now at more than $518 million -- it made $325 million in two weeks abroad before its U.S. debut and added $89 million overseas this weekend -- there's little doubt this will be be the biggest Bond movie ever at the box office. The next two biggest earners also starred Craig. "Quantum of Solace" grossed $586 million worldwide, while "Casino Royale" topped out at $594 million in 2006.
The 23rd film in the 50-year-old 007 franchise averaged $25,050 from each of the 3,505 theaters that it played on. Older males were the top demographic: 60% of the opening weekend audience was male and 75 percent was over 25 years old
It received an "A" CinemaScore from first-day moviegoers, and word of mouth seemed to help. It followed up its $30.8 million first day Friday with $33.8 million Saturday.
With the additional $2.2 million from special exclusive preview runs at 463 Imax and select locations on Thursday, the film has taken in a total of $90 million since opening in North America. Imax took in $13.1 million -- nearly 15 percent of the "Skyfall" gross -- at their theaters, most ever for a non-summer opening.
Pent-up demand for Bond -- it's been four years since the last 007 film -- and great reviews clearly motivated moviegoers. Director Sam Mendes has drawn critical raves, as has the supporting cast -- which includes Oscar winners Javier Bardem and Judi Dench -- and the script from Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and John Logan ("Gladiator").
Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli produced the film, from Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Its production budget is estimated at $200 million.
Paramount's Denzel Washington thriller "Flight" brought in $15.1 million from 2,047 theaters in its second weekend, good for third place. It's overall gross is $47.7 million.
In fourth place was Warner Bros.' "Argo." The Ben Affleck Iran hostage political thriller, in its fifth week of release, took in $6.7 million from 2,763 screens. Its overall domestic gross is $80 million. Its production budget was $44.5 million.
"Lincoln," a front-runner in the Academy Awards Best Picture race, got off to a fast start at the box office this weekend, bringing in $900,000 from just 11 screens in its first three days of release. That's an average of $81,818 per-screen for the Steven Spielberg-directed biopic, making it the year's third-largest limited debut. The impressive debut adds to the film's Oscar momentum and sets up next
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