Skyfall, the 23rd film in the James Bond franchise and the third starring Daniel Craig, continues to strike gold at the box office. The Sam Mendes' directed film released in US theatres on 9 November, following a record-breaking run at theatres in UK and across the world. The film grossed a record $87.8m (approximately £56m) in its opening weekend in America (not including an additional $2.2m (approximately £1.4m) from IMAX theatres).

Skyfall Teaser Photo
Skyfall.com

Craig's third role as Bond (and the final appearance of Dame Judi Dench as the iconic M) was already earning tremendous amounts of money even before the US release, with reports the film made $287m (approximately £180m), across the world, in its first 10 days. Even more impressively, Skyfall will now certainly pass the $594m (approximately £374m) made by Casino Royale (2006), Craig's debut as James Bond. The film's take now stands at $516m (approximately £326m) worldwide.

In the UK, the film raked in £20.1m after the opening weekend, making it the biggest UK opening of 2012 so far and the third biggest of all time; Sam Mendes' Bond caper fell to Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 (£23m) and Toy Story 3 (£21.2m). Furthermore, it is now the third-highest grossing film of 2012 (£37.2m in the first seven days) in the UK, behind The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers. The record is Avatar, with £93.5m.

Skyfall has also earned, as the money shows, excellent critical reviews. The film also stars Academy Award-winning Spanish actor Javier Bardem (as Raoul Silva), Ralph Fiennes (as Gareth Mallory, the new M) and Naomie Harris and Berenice Marlohe as Eve and Severine, the Bond girls.

Meanwhile, Craig, who admitted during a promotional tour of the US that he wanted Skyfall to be his last appearance as Bond, will probably not have his wishes fulfilled. Reports suggest the series' producers have signed the actor up for at least two more installments.

"I've been trying to get out of this from the very moment I got into it," he explained, adding, "But they won't let me go, and I've agreed to do a couple more, but let's see how this one does."

The good news is that quote, given to Rolling Stones magazine, was before the extraordinary success of Skyfall... so we're likely to see Craig happily reprise his role as the suave secret agent at least twice more, easily making him one of the most popular Bonds of all time; in terms of box office statistics, if nothing else.

Gold