Much digital ink was spilled about the early box office forecasts for Sam Mendes’ Spectre, with the most pressing arriving in the form of: could it possibly top its billion-dollar predecessor? Going off the film’s rip-roaring start, that eye-watering milestone suddenly doesn’t look out of reach after all.
For the sake of perspective, Skyfall soared to a staggering, franchise-best of $1.1 billion in 2013, and after releasing across six territories, Spectre has already hit an impressive $80.4 million, according to figures released by Box Office Mojo. What’s most impressive, though, is the box office records that the spy thriller has broken past. In the United Kingdom, for instance, Mendes’ follow-up took in more than £41.7 million ($63.8 million USD) in its first week alone, meaning that it now supplants Skyfall‘s place as the film to pull in the highest gross across a 7-day period.
It’s not for want of trying, either, given that 647 cinemas hosted the film on 2500 screens in the UK, ensuring that the thriller will go down as the widest release of all time across the UK and Ireland. Indeed, Spectre also stormed to the best opening-day box office in the former country, bringing in £6.3 million when it debuted on Tuesday, October 27.
The success doesn’t stop there, however, with the outlet revealing that Bond 24 was the first ever release to top $100,000 per-location average across the UK, storming past the record set by Transformers: Dark of the Moon four years prior. This record-breaking form also extended across other locations across Europe, with Spectre setting new milestones in Norway, the Netherlands, Finland and Denmark respectively.
Can Spectre maintain this momentum going into its worldwide release? Time will tell. Sam Mendes’ sequel opens in the States on November 6, and you can get the skinny on the 24th installment in the long-running series by checking out our review.
