Casino Royale may become highest grossing international Bond film ever

26-Nov-2006 • Casino Royale

007 is so far doing Da Vinci Code-like biz in all 50 countries where it's opened No. 1 (except the U.S. where it opened No. 2), reports Deadline Hollywood.

There were 18 new international debuts for Casino Royale this week - all #1, including France, Germany, Spain and Scandinavia. Last week, the spy pic was #1 in all 27 countries where it opened, earning $42.2 mil from the UK, Russia, India and small territories in the Mideast and Asia. (Last week, it scored the #9 all-time UK opening, and the biggest Bond opening ever in the UK by 46%.)

Right before the debut weekend, Sony Pictures was lowering expectations for Casino Royale in the U.S. and counting more on foreign sales. The studio was right: the pic now looks like the biggest Bond ever worldwide, moving up from $82.8 mil last weekend to easily passing $220 mil this weekend with many major foreign territories still to go, including Japan, Korea, Italy and Australia.

Box office gurus say Daniel Craig will easily beat the biggest grosser in the Pierce Brosnan series, 2002's Die Another Day, and its $432 mil global take.

Thanks to `Dog Bond` for the alert.