New James Bond film No Time To Die has landed the biggest opening day at the UK box office in the pandemic era.
According to estimates from producers at Universal (via Daily Mail), the long-delayed film made between £4.5million and £5m on its first day at the box office on Thursday (September 30).
These first day ticket sales are 13% higher than the last Bond film, 2015’s Spectre, but 26% lower than Skyfall (2012).
As Deadline reports, the film is estimated to make an £83m ($113m) bow at the international box office on its opening weekend, making it the first Hollywood movie to make over $100m outside of the United States during the pandemic.
The release of No Time To Die has been delayed multiple times due to the pandemic. After being delayed from its original April 2, 2020 release date, fans were expecting to be able to see the next instalment in the franchise in the UK on November 12 and in the US on November 20 last year.
A revised release date of April 2, 2021 – exactly a year after its planned original bow – was then set, before ongoing COVID restrictions around the world pushed the film back once again to October 8 this year. A slightly earlier release date of September 30 was then set in stone, and the film was released last week.
Reviewing No Time To Die, NME wrote: “For the most part, and with so much at stake thanks to COVID decimating cinema, No Time To Die producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson should be applauded for taking some bold risks.
“The gobsmacking ending, in fact, may be the biggest in Bond history. Yet when the credits finally roll on Daniel Craig’s last hurrah, all those difficulties fade into the background. If we didn’t know better, we’d say it even looked like he enjoyed himself.”
In a new interview with NME around the release of No Time To Die, Daniel Craig shared the piece of advice that helped him most during his five-film stint as James Bond, delivered by previous Bond, Pierce Brosnan.
Watch the full video interview above.
