The box-office gods have opened the floodgates this weekend as Skyfall will break the record for the largest opening for a James Bond feature (currently $67.5 million from Quantum of Solace) and in limited release Lincoln is doing huge business.
First for Bond, opening in 3,505 theaters with IMAX showings on Thursday ($2.2 million) and midnight showings Friday ($2.4 million), the film brought in an estimated total of $33 million with $80 million within reach at this point for the weekend and it’s going to go on and on and on. Sony has a huge hit on their hands that will carry through to next weekend as well, all but assured by the “A” Cinemascore the film received from opening day audiences.
Skyfall was already crushing it worldwide as it went into the weekend with $321 million internationally, which means it will probably end the weekend somewhere around $500 million worldwide. Good thing too, the budget on this behemoth is reported to be around $200 million. Sounds like money well spent.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Lincoln the awards season prestige pic from Steven Spielberg was made on a budget of $65 million and opened in only 11 theaters. However, it’s putting those 11 theaters to work and targeting a potential $75k+ per theater weekend as it brought in an estimated $268,000 on Friday. The Lincoln demographic is sure to come out in droves this weekend and boost that number much higher as Dreamworks prepares to go wide next weekend.
Last weekend’s openers, Wreck-It Ralph and Flight, are making their own contributions to the overall box-office by holding on strong after very solid opening numbers.
Last weekend’s #1, Wreck-It Ralph, is looking to dip less than 40% with an estimated $7.8 million on Friday and a projected $30+ million weekend. Flight is holding on almost as well, bringing in $4.2 million on Friday and should end the weekend around $13.5 million.
I have included the Friday top ten directly below and will be back Sunday morning with a complete wrap-up.
- Skyfall – $33 million
- Wreck-It Ralph – $7.8 million
- Flight – $4.2 million
- Argo – $1.8 million
- Taken 2 – $1.1 million
- Pitch Perfect – $786,000
- The Man with the Iron Fist – $739,000
- Cloud Atlas – $710,000
- Here Comes the Boom – $700,000
- Paranormal Activity 4 – $621,000
