[salem]

OK, so according to Box Office Mojo, Skyfall, the 23rd Bond movie and 3rd to star Daniel Craig as the British super spy has just become the first Bond movie to reach one billion dollars Worldwide at the box office. An astonishing feat when you consider the previous best film hasn't even made it past 600 million worldwide. I know that if you take inflation into account, a couple of other Bond movies could also have had the billion dollar honour, but taking it as strictly money earned at the time of release, I will hail this movie as the only one for simplicity sake!

The previous best US taking for a Bond movie was 168 million dollars, so far Skyfall has made 289 million dollars in the US. It is the highest grossing movie EVER in the UK (over 160 million).

So what is this undoubted success down to? Well a combination of things really. Daniel Craig really is a terrific Bond, the movie is directed with such style by Sam Mendes and all the actors, even the ones in minor roles are excellent. It learns from the mistakes of the previous two movies with it's MTV style quick cut flashy editing and convoluted story, by keeping things simple and making the action scenes watchable. It also has a little bit of backstory, some good character moments and leads the Bond prequel series neatly into where it started in the Connery era.

Expect to hear Universal Exports mentioned in the next movie!

So I would have to say that Skyfall is pretty much now my favourite Bond movie, Daniel Craig is now my favourite James Bond and Skyfall by Adele is my favourite Bond song.

Bond 24 has a lot to live up to!

[solvegas]

I disagree with you about who is the best Bond. Sean Connery is still the best and in my opinion Golfinger is still the best. My $0.02.

[salem]

I used to feel the same way but for me Daniel Craig absolutely nails Bond, he really gives the character depth, he plays him as a real hard as nails, cold, ruthless secret agent bordering on alcoholism!

I think if you take inflation into account then Goldfinger made more money US than Skyfall.

But I think overall Skyfall is a far superior film, it doesn't rely on gimmicky gadgets, headline grabbing character names (Pussy Galore?) and the villian, played superbly by Javier Bardem makes Gert Frobe look like he could not act his way out of a paper bag by comparison.

I do love Goldfinger though, however, Diamonds are Forever is my favourite Connery movie.

[TheZookie007]

Sean Connery isn't playing Bond. He is Bond

Goldfinger remains one of my favorite Bond films and the title song is still my favorite Bond theme.

I made a stupid mistake over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. I had the Bond 50 collection in my Amazon cart and totally forgot to pull the trigger. It was available for only $99. Now the thing costs more than $300

Adele is my woman but the song for Skyfall keeps making me wish Amy Winehouse was still alive.

I hope to finally see Skyfall this week; thankfully it's still in theatres.

[salem]

So Spectre has now come out, with a North American Opening of 73 million dollars (estimated). Following the pattern of the previous move, Skyfall which made 88,364,714 dollars in its opening weekend, Spectre should make a minimum of 250 million US and will probably make over a billion worldwide again. Two things may be responsible for the lower opening than the last film, firstly as it was opened a week sooner in Europe, reviews may not be as positive as Skyfall which may have hampered its figures, another reason is that it opened alongside the Peanuts movie, which is something which is very popular in North America. I'm not sure what movie Skyfall opened against but it might have been something that was a lot less appealing. It also faces competition from the final Hunger Games movie in a couple of weeks, so 250 million may be a stretch. We shall see.

[salem]

Official figures for 'Spectre' in it's first weekend in North America is $70,403,148. I did a check and when Skyfall came out there were no big releases at the same time, the next biggest film was a holdover from the previous week, Wreck-it Ralph. Undoubtedly The Peanuts Movie stole some of Bond's thunder this weekend. However, when Skyfall came out, the following week Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 came out which took most of the box office. This time around there are NO big movies the following weekend. The final Hunger Games movie comes out in two weeks, which will of course take most of the wind out of Bond's sails but I fully expect Bond to be the top film in North America this weekend. Good word of mouth should see it to a slightly less than 50% drop. I still think it may be an ask to reach $250 million dollars, but time will tell. It will very much depend on word of mouth and its second weekend drop. I do fully expect it to reach over a Billion worldwide though.

[salem]

Okay, so I am taking a while to update this, but hey-ho!

Spectre ended up making a somewhat disappointing 200 million dollars in North America, with a worldwide gross of 880 million.

The future of the series hangs in the balance, Daniel Craig is not sure if he wants to do another one, so we may/may not have a new Bond.

Of course, they could kill the franchise stone dead by making the next Bond female...

[TheZookie007]

The future of the series hangs in the balance, Daniel Craig is not sure if he wants to do another one, so we may/may not have a new Bond.

Never fear. I just read in Vanity Fair that Craig has all but signed up for the next Bond film. There was a rumor of EON Productions being willing to pay him up to $120 mil for the chance to get banged up again, but I think that's just that, an absurd rumor.

[rtpoe]

Who is he going to regenerate into? (grin)

[salem]

Might be nice to have a female 'OO' agent in the next movie. Then she can get her own spin-off franchise and they can leave Bond as a man, after all, some things are sacred!

I suspect the next Bond movie may once again feature Blofeld, and in the great tradition of Bond movies, it will be played by someone else. However, if the PC brigade stick their noses in, Blofeld will next be played by Whoopi Goldberg.

[Robin_K2]

I'd be interested in seeing past box office adjusted for inflation.

[rtpoe]

I'd be interested in seeing past box office adjusted for inflation.

BoxOfficeMojo has the All Time Top 200: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

There are other lists that total things up for complete franchises, but they don't appear to be adjusted for inflation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_highest-grossing_media_franchises
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films#Highest-grossing_franchises_and_film_series

[TheZookie007]

"Confirmed! Daniel Craig Will Return As James Bond"

[salem]

I'd be interested in seeing past box office adjusted for inflation.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=jamesbond.htm

Top Bond movie in North America adjusted for inflation, Thunderball, followed by Goldfinger then Skyfall.

[salem]

Danny Boyle who was supposed to be directing Bond 25 (Die Another Tommorrow Golden Blofeld?) has left the production citing creative differences. Rumour has it he disagreed with Daniel Craig over who was to play the Russian villian. I'm also not sure if the execs liked his vision. Apparently Daniel Craig has massive infliuence as Barbara Broccoli is very close with him. This means that the next Bond movie may not be released until 2020, which in my opinion is a mistake. Given the turnaround for Bond movies as usually 3 years, this would make Bond 26 release date for 2023, which would miss the 60th anniversary. I'm sure releasing a Bond movie in the 60th anniversary would definitely increase interest and Box Office takings. Another thing which may delay Bond 26 is that they may need to cast a new Bond (highly likely). It does not look like my favourite for the role (Michale Fassbender) is in the running as current rumours seem to indicate Idris Elba may be being considered. I think this may be a bad move as Idris will be close to 50 when it is released. I am also not sure the producres quite have a handle on the character if they are planning to have Idris in the role, after all a 6 feet 5 very well-built black man does not exactly scream 'inconspicuous spy', You would also have a black Moneypenny and a black Bond, so you may get accusations of going to far the other way with regards to being too PC. Would I like to see Idris as a future Bond villian or the next Felix Leiter (Felix is black in the reboot). Hell yes! He would be great in either role, then of course you could give him his own Felix Leiter: CIA Agent spin-off movie.

There is also another riduculous rumour about possibly making the next Bond female, why not? Make the 60th anniversary movie the last one, kill the franchise dead by making Bond female. We hear this sort of nonsense all the time, instead of an original idea with a female spy (there have been several in the last few years, none being as successful as Bond though) they try and get lazy and hijack an already established franchise. They talk of Bond needing a 'shot in the arm' or 'a new direction'. Are you shitting me? They already rebooted it a few years ago and the last two Bond movies have been the most successful ever, how much more of a shot in the arm do you need?

So, the casting of the next Bond will be very interesting to watch. Maybe the producres will see how a female Doctor Who does before they make a decision. After all Bond and Doctor Who do share a very close paralle with regard to casting of new Bonds and new Doctors.