The 25th official James Bond film crossed $150 million domestic, and with two straight holds like this, it’ll place fifth just below F9 ($173 million). Inflation notwithstanding, an over/under $162 million cume would put it just ahead of Pierce Brosnan’s Die Another Day ($161 million in 2002) and behind only the four previous Daniel Craig 007 movies ($167 million in 2006, $168 million in 2008, $304 million in 2012 and $200 million in 2015) within the franchise. And if you offer up a 15% due to Covid loss, then a non-Covid figure would be around $185 million, both closer to Spectre and about in line with what might have been expected from a well-liked straight-up sequel to Spectre amid a more conventional marketplace.
No Time to Die grossed $24 million worldwide, for a new $558 million foreign cume, thanks to strongholds and an $8.2 million debut in Australia. This includes a $58 million 17-day cume in China, putting it in the middle between Skyfall ($61 million in 2012) and Spectre ($83 million in 2015), as well as $126 million in the UK (fifth all-time). The company’s strongholds in the United States and abroad were enough to boost its total global revenue past $700 million.
The Cary Fukunaga-directed action film is only the second Hollywood film to achieve that feat in 2019. It should pass Fast & Furious 9’s $721 million domestic total, making it the biggest Hollywood film since Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($800 million), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($1.073 billion), Joker ($1.073 billion), and Frozen II ($1.45 billion) in late 2019. With the exception of Fallout ($792 million), it has outperformed every Bourne film, every Mission: Impossible film, and both Kingsman films. It has grossed more than the Austin Powers trilogy’s combined global grosses ($676 million on a combined budget of $116 million) and the Xander Cage/xXx trilogy ($683 million/$215 million).
It’ll soon trail only Wolf Warrior II, Battle at Lake Changjin, Spectre, Skyfall, the previous six Fast Saga films, Mission: Impossible 6, and the generally superpower-free Dark Knight sequels in terms of real-world action movies. It’ll soon trail Hi Mom ($837 million) and Battle at Lake Changjin ($885 million) among all 2020/2021 releases.
I’m not sure if $750 million-plus will be enough for MGM and Eon to break even in raw theatrical income (after two years of delays due to a director switch and then Covid), but I’m guessing product placement arrangements and significant post-theatrical profitability will make everyone whole. After all, the next one (with a new, less expensive Bond) would most likely cost around $175 million and won’t have to cope with a global pandemic.