“No Time to Die,” the heavy-hitting 25th instalment of the James Bond franchise, is getting the widest theatrical release of all time in the U.K., where its Sept. 30 opening day figures are estimated to reach $6.8 million.
MGM and Universal’s tentpole was released in 772 cinemas –– 25 more than the previous record holder, “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” in 2019. The film is Universal’s widest release ever in Britain.
Bond’s opening day haul, from its first full day in movie theaters on Thursday, is estimated to fall between $6.2 million and $6.8 million — around 13% above 2015’s “Spectre” release, which fell on a Monday, and 26% below 2012’s “Skyfall” launch on a Friday.
More than 30,000 people attended midnight screenings on Wednesday night. Overall, the film has sold 1.62 million advance tickets across its opening four days, through to Sunday. This surpasses “Spectre’s” total advance bookings by over 12% and performs in line with “Skyfall” at the same time, albeit during pre-release.
For cinema chains Everyman, Cohen Media Group-backed Curzon and the Cineworld-owned Picturehouse, “No Time to Die” has set the record for highest advance sales of all time.
Eon’s latest Bond escapade is Daniel Craig’s final outing as Bond after 15 years. Following its glamorous world premiere at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Tuesday, the film received breathless reviews from critics and currently has an 84% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety critic Owen Gleiberman called “No Time to Die” “an unabashedly conventional Bond film that’s been made with high finesse and just the right touch of soul, as well as enough sleek surprise to keep you on edge.”
The film is releasing in a number of international markets ahead of its Oct. 8 domestic launch.
In Korea, where the $250-million budgeted movie opened on Wednesday, it earned the top spot, drawing $663,000 (KRW785 million) from 104,000 ticket sales, according to data from the Kobis box office service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was achieved from 3,937 screening sessions and represented a 62% share of the Wednesday box office total.
On Thursday, the film pulled in another $590,000.
In addition to the U.K. “No Time to Die” also launched on Sept. 30 in Brazil, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. It will open in an additional 15 international markets, including France (Oct. 6), Russia (Oct. 7), China (Oct. 29) and Australia (Nov. 11).