SPECTRE smashes box office records

SPECTRE, the 24th entry in the long-running James Bond series, is now the U.K.’s biggest cinematic opening of all time, MGM Studios and Sony Pictures announced Sunday. Bad guy concerns Directed by Sam Mendes, SPECTRE made its world premiere in London on October 26.

While it struggles to sustain the energy and imagination of its opening and closing sequences throughout, Spectre is a gratifying addition to the Bond catalogue.

So like it or not, grumpy old Daniel Craig’s probably going to be getting the call to start jumping about on Land Rovers and rooftops again next year, as Bond’s global sex appeal shows no sign of fading. What’s most impressive, though, is the box office records that the spy thriller has broken past.

The United Kingdom wasn’t alone in shattering box office records as almost every releasing market saw SPECTRE make history as the biggest box office opening of all-time.

Ahead of its US release this Friday, the latest 007 adventure has already taken in $80.4 million worldwide! In the Nordic area, it brought in $12.7 million, setting records in Finland and Norway (beating Skyfall) with 2.35 million Euro ($2.63 million USD) and 24.4 million krone ($2.88 million USD), respectively.

According to The Guardian, Spectre’s chief stunt coordinator Gary Powell said: “We set the record for smashing up cars on Spectre, In Rome, we wrecked millions of pounds’ worth”.

Filmed at a cost of $250 million with millions more spent on marketing, “Spectre” needs to be a box office juggernaut if it wants to be profitable.

The picture also established a new Imax record, nabbing the highest per-location average in company history with $105,000 in 47 theaters.

Spectre opened to largely enthusiastic reviews, with critics hailing the action scenes that bookend the film as well as performances from numerous cast including Léa Seydoux, Christoph Waltz and Andrew Scott.