‘No Time To Die’ Could Become The First Pandemic-Era Movie With A $100 Million Opening At Domestic Box Office

A Quiet Place Part II made $48.3 million during its opening weekend at the domestic box office, a pandemic-era record. It was soon topped by F9 with $70 million… then Black Widow with $80.4 million… then Venom: Let There Be Carnage this past weekend with $90.1 million (it deserved every last cent). No film released during the pandemic has topped $100 million in its first three days of release, but that may soon change.

The new James Bond movie, No Time to Die, is expected to top $100 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend in the United States following a $119.1 million opening in 54 international markets, including $34.8 million in the United Kingdom. The last film with a $100 million-plus debut: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, in December 2019.

The 25th installment in the storied spy franchise is the first Hollywood title of the pandemic era to cross $100 million in its overseas launch without China… It smashed IMAX records, including setting the best opening weekend for a Bond film in 24 countries, including Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Italy. And it was the best pandemic-era opening in 21 markets, including the U.K., Hong Kong, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway.

A $100 million opening wasn’t a frequent occurrence in the Before Times — it’s only happened 61 times ever — but it’s happened enough that the expectation of success is there. (The closest a Bond film has come to hitting nine digits is Skyfall with $88.3 million.) There’s optimism that Daniel Craig’s final Bond movie, also with Ana de Armas, the voice of Paddington, and Rami Malek hamming it up, can be the 62nd.