Bond is back as Skyfall mustered a stellar domestic opening, grossing $90 million (including midnight numbers) this weekend stateside, making it the best James Bond opener ever.
After opening to huge numbers internationally, the question for Skyfall was whether those numbers could translate domestically. Clearly that question has been put to rest, as it opened to $87.8 million over the three day weekend, plus $2.2 million from midnight screenings on Thursday. To put the icing on the cake, audiences gave the film an “A” CinemaScore, which should only increase its haul going forward.
It was also a strong weekend for holdovers, as Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph held strong in second place, taking in $33 million for its second weekend in theaters. The film is now just $7 million shy of the $100 million mark, as word of mouth has clearly helped the animated pic going forward.
In third place was the Denzel Washington thriller Flight, which added 163 theaters and suffered only a 39% drop, hauling in $15.1 million domestically over the weekend. The Robert Zemeckis film has now grossed $47.7 million domestically on just a $31 million budget, so expect this one to be a success.
Elsewhere, it should mentioned that Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln opened this weekend in limited release at 11 locations, hauling in an impressive $900,000. Coupled with strong reviews (you can read ours here) and an impressive limited run, expect to see this one around for a while at both the box office and come awards season.
Next week expect to see The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 to obliterate the competition, as we’ll be back next Sunday to wrap up the weekend again. Until then…
Here’s a break down of the top ten earners of the weekend of November 9, 2012:
Weekend: $87.8 million
Theaters: 3,505
Budget: $200 million
CinemaScore: A
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Hypable Grade: A-
2. Wreck-It Ralph – $33 million ($93.6 million total)
3. Flight – $15.1 million ($47.7 million total)
4. Argo – $6.7 million ($85.7 million total)
5. Taken 2 – $4 million ($131.2 million total)
6. Here Comes the Boom – $2.5 million ($39 million total)
7. Cloud Atlas – $2.5 million ($22.7 million total)
8. Pitch Perfect – $2.5 million ($59 million total)
9. The Man with the Iron Fists – $2.4 million ($12.7 million total)
10. Hotel Transylvania – $2.3 million ($140.9 million total)