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| The new James Bond movie Spectre has smashed all box office records |
IT IS news that no doubt left its executive producers shaken if not a little stirred.
For it was revealed yesterday that the new James Bond movie Spectre has smashed all box office records, raking in an eye-watering £42million in its first week on release in the UK.
Globally, the latest outing for 007, starring Daniel Craig for the fourth time, has grossed more than £52million.
And these figures are set to rocket even further when the film is released in the US on Friday.
The unprecedented success at the box office eclipses the previous first week record set by the 2004 offering Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which took £23.8million.
Last night in a joint statement, Spectre's producers Michael G Watson and Barbara Broccoli said: "We're so grateful to all our James Bond fans and the British public for making Spectre's debut in the UK box office history.
"What an incredible thrill it is for us at MGM to see how James Bond continues to deliver such excitement to his fans."
Despite its staggering success, the film - the 24th in the Bond franchise - still has a long way to go to match the overall takings of the year's biggest movie so far, Jurassic World, which has grossed more than £1billion worldwide.
And Spectre's £200million budget means it also has some way to go before it starts turning a profit.
The latest outing of the Bond franchise reportedly spent some £24million alone on high-performance cars being written off.
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| Daniel Craig starring as 007 for the fourth time |
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| Sam Mendes directed the new James Bond film, Spectre |
Directed by Sam Mendes, the new screen adventure for Sir Ian Fleming's much-loved secret service agent has mostly received warm reviews from critics, who described it as "achingly cool" and "terrifically exciting".
What an incredible thrill it is for us at MGM to see how James Bond continues to deliver such excitement to his fans
After its premiere in London last week, attended by Craig, 47, the movie broke opening-day UK box office records, taking £6.3million.
The movie opened in 647 cinemas on 2,500 screens in the UK, making it the widest release of all time here.
Gary Barber, Chairman and CEO of producers MGM, said: "What an incredible thrill it is for us at MGM to see how James Bond continues to deliver such excitement to his fans."
Peter Taylor, managing director of Sony Pictures UK, added: "We are delighted that audiences in the UK and Ireland continue to embrace these stories about one of our biggest and best cultural icons."
Spectre opens in the US this Friday (Nov 6) and is expected to top the box office, after a Halloween weekend of flops, including Sandra Bullock's Our Brand is Crisis, which brought in an unimpressive £2.1million.
The UK record could be broken again, however, when Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on December 17.
Prior to Spectre, Skyfall, the last Bond movie, was the highest-grossing 007 film in the franchise's history, going on to take £700million ($1.1 billion) worldwide.
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| Prior to Spectre, Skyfall, was the highest-grossing 007 film in the franchise’s history |
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| Actress Monica Bellucci promoting the new Bond film 'Spectre' |
Experts believe Spectre may well go on to eclipse this.
Craig himself though has disappointed some Bond fans by saying the hero clearly "has problems", while also questioning his apparent misogyny.
The actor also said he was rather slit his wrists than play the role again.
But he later revised this, saying he owed much to the part and remains to be seen if he will take in the role one last time.
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