Bond was finally back this weekend, albeit with a little less cash than originally predicted. Daniel Craig’s much-delayed swansong, No Time to Die, collected $56 million for the top spot at the weekend box office, unseating last week’s champ, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which finished in second place with $32 million.
Critics and fans both gave the latest Bond film high marks, with a 84% fresh critics rating and an 88% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a grade of A- by those polled by CinemaScore after seeing No Time To Die. With a $250 million budget, the Bond film has a long way to go, but No Time To Die has generated 257.3 million abroad, with a debut in China imminent. The Bond audience does traditionally skew older, which was one reason why films geared at wider audiences like Shang-Chi and Venom 2 may have been able to collect more in their opening frames. It is still possible that No Time To Die will continue to pick up funds domestically, as older audiences decide that it is safer for them to attend screenings outside of the crowded weekend showings.
Speaking of safe, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is still a safe bet to finish in the upper half of the top ten domestic earners for the year with a current domestic total of $141.7 million. The film is performing at a much lower rate overseas, but has not opened in European markets, which have generated solid returns for Marvel and Spider-Man related films in the past.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings finished in fourth place with $4.2 million, still leading all films of 2021 with a new $212.5 million total. While there are still a number of big budget, high interest films due in November and December, Shang-Chi should finish in the top five domestically for the year.
Come back next week for the stats on the simultaneous debut of Halloween Kills in theaters and on Peacock, with Dune (October 22) and Eternals (November 5) not far off.