'No Time to Die' Wins the Box Office, Still Disappoints
by EG
The James Bond film No Time to Die was the top movie at the box office this weekend, but its ticket sales fell short of expectations. The turnout was disappointing for those who declared last week's big opening of Venom: Let There Be Carnage the end of the pandemic-era slowdown. To date, no non-Marvel movie has been able to deliver ticket sales that approach pre-pandemic levels. Read on for details.
No Time to Die reported for duty at the North American box office with an estimated opening of $56 million as Hollywood attempts to recover from the COVID-19 crisis and lure older adults back to theaters.
The James Bond event pic — starring Daniel Craig in his final turn as 007 — had no trouble coming in No. 1 ahead of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which earned $32 million in its second outing after opening to a pandemic-best $90 million last weekend. Nevertheless, No Time to Die had hoped to cross $60 million in its domestic launch for MGM and EON Productions.
The movie’s opening underscores the ongoing challenges facing the box office recovery as studios begin to release adult-skewing movies that were delayed because of the pandemic. No Time to Die was pushed back three times due to COVID.
While superhero movies such as Venom 2 feast on younger consumers, the Bond series has always been fueled in large part by moviegoers 35 and older, a demo that’s been more reluctant to return to cinemas.
No Time to Die succeeded in convincing many adults to show up at the box office for the first since COVID struck, but moviegoing for this quadrant still hasn’t hit pre-pandemic levels.
The Bond pic skewed male (64 percent), while 57 percent of ticket buyers were over the age of 35, including 36 percent over 45 years old. As a way of comparison, only 9 percent of ticket buyers going to see Venom: Let There Be Carnage on that film’s opening weekend were 45 and older.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.