Despite being pipped by the penguins of Happy Feet at the US box office, Casino Royale is still doing the business in every other country in the world.
Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily reports:
007 so far is doing Da Vinci Code-like biz in all 50 countries where it’s opened No. 1 (except the U.S. where it opened No. 2). There were 18 new international debuts for Casino Royale this week – all #1, including France, Germany, Spain and Scandinavia. So far, that’s an overseas total of $66.2 mil from this weekend’s haul — the 6th biggest international weekend of 2006.
Last week, the spy pic was #1 in all 27 countries where it opened, earning $42.2 mil from the UK, Russia, India and small territories in the Mideast and Asia. (Last week, it scored the #9 all-time UK opening, and the biggest Bond opening ever in the UK by 46%.)
Right before the debut weekend, Sony Pictures was lowering expectations for Casino Royale in the U.S. and counting more on foreign sales. The studio was right: the pic now looks like the biggest Bond ever worldwide, moving up from $82.8 mil last weekend to easily passing $224.5 mil this weekend (including the $128.2 mil foreign and $94.2 mil U.S. cume) with many major foreign territories still to go, including Japan, Korea, Italy and Australia.
Meanwhile Box Office Mojo says that even in the US it is holding strong at Number 2:
Down 24 percent, Casino Royale was as impressive as Happy Feet, holding better than James Bond’s previous Thanksgiving titles, GoldenEye, The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day, which each fell over 31 percent on this weekend. Casino Royale captured an estimated $31 million and, with $94.2 million in 10 days, has sold nine percent more tickets than GoldenEye, the last Bond reboot, through the same point.
> More on Casino Royale at Box Office Mojo
> David Germain of the AP on this weekend at the US Box Office