• Box Office

World Box Office October 4-10, 2021

Daniel Craig’s final turn as 007 in No Time to Die is shaking and stirring both the domestic and international box office.

Topping the North American market on its debut with $56 million and continuing its smashing overseas run, Cary Joji Fukunaga’s first crack at directing a Bond film easily crossed the $300 million global benchmark.

No Time to Die, also well-received critically, raised high expectations as it opened in the domestic market, especially with the all-out promo drive by Universal, MGM, and Eon and the phenomenal debut figures of Venom: Let There Be Carnage in the previous week.

Daniel’s fifth movie as cinema’s beloved secret agent, also starring Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, and Ralph Fiennes, marked the fifth-biggest bow during the coronavirus pandemic.

No Time to Die, also cited as an emotional cinematic adieu to Craig’s very successful take on Ian Fleming’s suave British Secret Service agent, notched the fourth-largest opening of a 007 film after Skyfall, Spectre, and Quantum of Solace, in that order.

Boding well for the 25th installment of the Bond series having legs is that 25 percent of the moviegoers who trooped to the cineplexes to watch No Time to Die are first-time returnees to the cinemas since the COVID-19 health crisis, according to box office analysts. The Broccolis’ newest addition to their popular franchise also has the advantage of being available to watch only in the movie houses.

After its record-breaking opening figures of $90.03 million – still the highest debut numbers in the pandemic – Tom Hardy’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage dropped to the second spot with $32 million. Claiming $141.67 million so far, the Andy Serkis-directed Marvel Comics superhero film is poised to quickly surpass the original film’s earnings.

The Addams Family 2 placed third with $10.02 million. Voiced by actors led by Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, and Chloe Grace Moretz, the animated sequel, which is also being streamed, has racked up $31.14 million after two weeks.

Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is holding well, ranking fourth and raking in $4.2 million after six weeks. The first Asian-led Marvel Studios film is still the only movie to hit the $200 million mark in the COVID era.

The Many Saints of Newark, the movie prequel of HBO’s acclaimed crime drama series, is still struggling at the box office. After its soft $4.65 million bow, the film focusing on the young Tony Soprano grabbed $1.45 million for a fifth-place rank.

Rounding out the top 10, in order, were Free Guy ($1.3 million), Lamb, the debuting horror drama headlined by Noomi Rapace ($1,000,079), Dear Evan Hansen ($1 million), Candyman ($700,000), and Jungle Cruise ($214,000).

Internationally, the latest 007 film grabbed $89.54 million in 66 markets on its sophomore run and added to an overseas cumulative gross of $257.27 million.

After its huge opening last week in Bond’s home – United Kingdom (where its total, plus from Ireland, is $70.9 million) – No Time to Die also debuted at the top in France with $10.1 million. That was good enough for the film, set in spectacular locations around the world, as usual, to claim having the biggest bow in the pandemic in France.

Venom 2 is also still strong offshore, raking in $24.8 million in the recent weekend for a global take of $185.6 million.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings maintained its winning streak by crossing the $400 million global milestone. The recent weekend’s haul of $4.9 million from more than 40 markets helped the blockbuster, also featuring Awkwafina, Tony Leung, and Michelle Yeoh, to reach that mark.

Speaking of marks, news stories tout that Disney will report that it has earned $2 billion globally, thanks to Shang-Chi and its other hits – Jungle Cruise, Raya and the Last Dragon, Soul, Cruella, Black Widow and Free Guy. The studio will be the first one to cross that mark this year.

Timothée Chalamet’s Dune collected $8.8 million overseas for an international tally of $117.1 million.

Over in China, the world’s largest movie market, the biggest moneymaker was neither No Time to Die nor Venom 2, both of which have yet to open there.

Instead, the top grosser was the homegrown propaganda film, The Battle at Lake Changjin, which dramatizes the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War. After its weekend gain of $108 million, the movie has now amassed a whopping cume: $638 million.