Skyfall: 'most successful' James Bond film tops $1bn at global box office
Skyfall, the latest James Bond film, smashed through the $1 billion mark at the box office tonight as it continued its record-breaking showing in cinemas worldwide.
Daniel Craig in a still from the new James Bond film Skyfall Photo: SONY PICTURES
By Andrew Hough 9:00PM GMT 30 Dec 2012
The spy adventure, starring Daniel Craig as 007, has also become the first movie to earn at least £100 million in ticket sales in Britain.
Daniel Craig on the set of Skyfall', the 23rd film in the James Bond series (Picture: FRANCOIS DUHAMEL)
The Sam Mendes-directed film, released 50 years after the franchise’s first movie Dr No in 1962, has now become the highest earning out of all of the 23 James Bond instalments.
Tonight, the film's executives announced it had now earned at least $1bn (£620 million) at the global box office, with $710.6 million (£440 million) being made outside of North America.
Despite falling out of the week's top 10 films in the US, the James Bond film is only the third movie to cross $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales this year, after The Avengers ($1.51 billion) and The Dark Knight Rises ($1.08 billion).
Bond (Craig) and M (Dame Judi) in Skyfall (Picture: SONY)
Over the weekend, the film took a further $1.4 million (£867,000) in Britain, bringing its total earnings to $161.6 million, making it the first film to break the £100 million barrier in the UK.
Before Skyfall, which is said to have been made for a reported $200 million, Avatar was previously the highest grossing film in Britain, taking more than £94 million at the UK box office during its cinematic release.
Since its release in October, Skyfall has broken several box office records. In its first three weeks of release it grossed more than the combined earnings of the two previous Bond movies, Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale.
Sam Mendes directs Dame Judi Dench on the set of Skyfall (Picture: COLOMBIA PICTURES)
"It is truly thrilling to reach this incredible milestone," said Gary Barber, the chief executive and chairman of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), one of the studios behind the franchise.
"With tremendous gratitude ... to all of the dedicated distributors and fans across the globe, we are so proud of both Skyfall and our 50 year association with James Bond."
Daniel Craig on location in Istanbul
Jeff Blake, a vice chairman of Sony Pictures, which also produced and distributed the film, said Skyfall was now "the most successful James Bond film of all time".
“To see a film connect with audiences is always gratifying but the success of this film is nothing short of extraordinary," said Sony's head of worldwide marketing and distribution.
"We couldn't be more excited for Michael Wilson, Barbara Broccoli [the film's producers], Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig, and especially the fans who put James Bond in this very rare and very exclusive billion dollar box office club."
The Prince of Wales (R) and Duchess of Cornwall (2nd R) meet James Bond actors Daniel Craig (L) and Dame Judi Dench at World Premiere of "Skyfall" (Picture: GETTY IMAGES)
Skyfall, which also stars Dame Judi Dench MI6 boss M, Ralph Fiennes and Javier Bardem, follows Bond as the spy agency faces a terrorist attack in London.
Craig, 44, who is married to actress Rachel Weisz, has signed up to a further two 007 films, taking the number of Bond movies he has starred in to five.
The film’s success comes as Hollywood had a record year in 2012, making $10.8 billion (£6.6 billion) at the box office in North America alone, as the number of tickets sold rose for the first time in three years.
Next year, cinema audiences will be hit with a battery of sequels, prequels, remakes and reboots in 2013, as Hollywood, stung by a series of recent box office flops, banks on safe follow-ups to successful blockbusters.
The Skyfall cast: Naomie Harris, Daniel Craig and Berenice Marlohe (Picture: AP)
Its popularity is a boost for MGM following a turbulent few years, in which the studio came close to collapse and filed for bankruptcy protection.
Producers have said the next Bond, which is also from EON Productions, is due to hit screens either in 2014 or 2015.
