'No Time To Die' opens in China with $8m as Beijing starts closing cinemas
29-Oct-2021 • No Time To Die
China opened for 'No Time To Die' this week with special midnight screenings in the early hours of Friday morning and by the end of the first 24 hour period had clocked up $8.12m. That was considered 'quiet' by industry reports, although it did make it the #1 film that day, unseating 'The Battle At Lake Changjin.'
Friday's total puts the film on course for a $30-$40m weekend, which is behind the performance of 'SPECTRE' which made $44.5 in its opening frame.
Many box-office analysts hung 'No Time To Die's eventual profitability on the franchise's "strong record" in China, but that is over-egging the pudding somewhat. 'Skyfall' made $59.3 all done and 'SPECTRE' ended up with $83.5m. 'No Time To Die's China total is likely to land somewhere in between and hardly be the financial saviour many hoped it would be, given the studio only gets to keep 25% of the ticket sales.
Further dampening expectations will be the biggest COVID outbreak in China since the start of the pandemic, which has already shuttered 13% of cinemas in the country this week, and further closures in Beijing announced today.
