Craig's Bond is set to be biggest earner of them all
20th November 2006
Big hit: Daniel Craig's first appearance as the suave spy has won rave reviews and racked up £13 million in ticket sales
Casino Royal is on course to become the most successful Bond movie ever after grossing £13million in the UK on its opening weekend.
Daniel Craig's debut as the world's favourite spy easily beat the previous £9.1 million opening record set by Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day.
The film has also been a huge hit with the critics, who have crowned it the best Bond since Goldfinger.
Craig has confounded his detractors with a performance as 007 judged the sexiest and most intense yet.
Breathless write-ups on both sides of the Atlantic have hailed Craig as a "haunting, caustic" Bond with a physique seemingly "carved from raw granite".
And the film has achieved the rare feat of 95 per cent positive ratings from reviewers - as calculated on film website rottentomatoes.com.
A spokesman for the movie's distributor Sony Pictures said: "It's the most successful opening weekend of any Bond film. The takings are 40 per cent up on Die Another Day. It is in the top three weekend openings of all time.
"The reviews have all been excellent and audiences are also loving this picture. They are welcoming the reinvention of this franchise."
Craig's Casino Royale has a long way to go before topping Sean Connery's Thunderball in 1965, but has 42 years of takings to catch up.
Thunderball made £455 million worldwide in today's terms and occupies the top spot for Bond movies. Goldfinger takes the second spot with £375 million.
In the United States, Casino Royale brought in £21 millioin in its first weekend, but was still pushed into second place by Happy Feet, about a cartoon penguin. However, 007 producers were more than happy that the US total should give Casino a platform to match Thunderball.
Meanwhile, eagle-eyed filmgoers are already spotting bloopers in the 21st century Bond. In one scene, Craig's white fireproof suit is clearly visible as he clambers into a burst fuel tanker.
And in another, 007 uses a nail gun to kill a villain - but those guns can be fired only when they are pressed up against a hard surface.
dailymail.co.uk
20th November 2006
Casino Royal is on course to become the most successful Bond movie ever after grossing £13million in the UK on its opening weekend.
Daniel Craig's debut as the world's favourite spy easily beat the previous £9.1 million opening record set by Pierce Brosnan's Die Another Day.
The film has also been a huge hit with the critics, who have crowned it the best Bond since Goldfinger.
Craig has confounded his detractors with a performance as 007 judged the sexiest and most intense yet.
Breathless write-ups on both sides of the Atlantic have hailed Craig as a "haunting, caustic" Bond with a physique seemingly "carved from raw granite".
And the film has achieved the rare feat of 95 per cent positive ratings from reviewers - as calculated on film website rottentomatoes.com.
A spokesman for the movie's distributor Sony Pictures said: "It's the most successful opening weekend of any Bond film. The takings are 40 per cent up on Die Another Day. It is in the top three weekend openings of all time.
"The reviews have all been excellent and audiences are also loving this picture. They are welcoming the reinvention of this franchise."
Craig's Casino Royale has a long way to go before topping Sean Connery's Thunderball in 1965, but has 42 years of takings to catch up.
Thunderball made £455 million worldwide in today's terms and occupies the top spot for Bond movies. Goldfinger takes the second spot with £375 million.
In the United States, Casino Royale brought in £21 millioin in its first weekend, but was still pushed into second place by Happy Feet, about a cartoon penguin. However, 007 producers were more than happy that the US total should give Casino a platform to match Thunderball.
Meanwhile, eagle-eyed filmgoers are already spotting bloopers in the 21st century Bond. In one scene, Craig's white fireproof suit is clearly visible as he clambers into a burst fuel tanker.
And in another, 007 uses a nail gun to kill a villain - but those guns can be fired only when they are pressed up against a hard surface.
dailymail.co.uk
