No Time To Die Takes Top Spot At Box Office, Worst Opening Weekend For Daniel Craig’s James Bond

John F. Trent |

Oct 13, 2021

Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in NO TIME TO DIE, an EON Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios film Credit: Nicola Dove © 2021 DANJAQ, LLC AND MGM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The latest James Bond installment, No Time To Die, took top spot at the domestic box office despite a poor showing and underperforming expectations and predictions.

According to The-Numbers, the film grossed $55.2 million in its opening weekend. That was enough to best Venom, which earned $31.7 million in its second weekend.

The rest of the top five included The Addams Family 2, which brought in $10.1 million. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings brought in another $4.3 million, and The Many Saints of Newark edged out Free Guy with a $1.4 million gross for the weekend.

With No Time To Die’s $55.2 million domestic opening weekend, and an extra $6.9 million at domestic theaters during the Columbus Day weekend, the film has grossed $318.7 million globally. The movie opened a week earlier in a number of international markets and it has brought in $256.6 million so far.

The opening weekend box office haul was below even the low range of Box Office Pro’s long-range prediction for the film that they made back in the middle of September.

They predicted the film would earn anywhere between $56 and $85 million in its opening weekend and $140 and $240 million for its overall domestic take during the length of its run in theaters.

Not only did the film not hit this long range number, but it vastly underperformed Box Office Pro’s more recent weekend prediction. On October 7th, they predicted the film would earn between $70 and $105 million. It clearly did not hit those marks.

The-Numbers’ prediction of $56.8 million was a lot closer, but it still underperformed.

As for where the film stands in comparison to other James Bond films, it holds the fourth highest grossing opening weekend in the franchise’s history. It’s behind Skyfall, Spectre, and Quantum of Solace.

However, if you factor in inflation, the movie tumbles down the list to seventh. It is bested by Die Another Day, Casino Royale, and The World is Not Enough. That means it is the worst domestic opening weekend of a James Bond film starring Daniel Craig.

As far as total domestic box office, it has a long way to go to top Casino Royale, which is currently the fourth highest grossing Bond film of not only the Craig era, but of the Bond franchise.

That film grossed $167.3 million. The top three spots belong to Skyfall, which grossed $304.3 million, Spectre at $200 million, and Quantum of Solace at $169.3 million.

No Time To Die currently sits in 12th spot behind Thunderball, Octopussy, Moonraker, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Die Another Day along with the four other Craig films. That’s without factoring in inflation. If you factor in inflation, it’s way down the list.

As for Venom, despite facing stiff competition with No Time To Die, the film only had a 65% decline in its second weekend at the box office.

It’s total domestic gross now sits at $145.4 million with an international gross of $43.4 million for a global gross of $188.9 million.

The film is still on pace with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings despite that film having over a month without any competition at the box office.

Venom has jumped to the fifth highest grossing film of 2021 at the domestic box office. It’s now higher than Free Guy, Jungle Cruise, and Godzilla vs. Kong. A Quiet Place: Part II, F9: The Fast Saga, Black Widow, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings remain above it.

The film is still on pace to equal the first film’s total of $213.5 million back in 2018.

With Shang-Chi’s $4.3 million haul over the weekend, the film has now grossed $213.3 million at the domestic box office. It’s grossed $402.2 million globally.

Despite it being the top grossing film of 2021, it’s still one of the worst performing Marvel Cinematic Universe films to date.

Not factoring in inflation, the film only bests, Thor: The Dark World, Black Widow, Thor, Ant-Man, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Incredible Hulk.

However, factoring in inflation, the movie only bests Black Widow, Ant-Man, and The Incredible Hulk.