Spectre Opening Takings Fail To Match Skyfall.

Spectre has shot to the top of the US box office but failed to match the success of the previous Bond film Skyfall.

The film took $73m (£48m) in its first weekend to become the second biggest Bond opening of all time.

The 24th movie in the franchise stars Daniel Craig as 007 opposite Christoph Waltz's villain and cost around $250m (£165m) to make.

But Spectre failed to live up to the record-breaking standard set by Skyfall, which debuted to $88.4m (£58m) in 2012 and went on to become the first film in the franchise to earn over $1bn (£660m) worldwide.

"We never expected it to open to the level of Skyfall. It was a very different scenario. The competition was different, the weekend was different," said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of worldwide distribution.

"One thing I am certain of is that the Bond franchise is as healthy and strong as ever."

Distributor Sony, which co-produced the film with Eon Productions and MGM, tried to manage expectations going into the weekend, predicting an opening in the $60m (£40m) range.

"It's still a great number," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak.

"For a franchise that's over 50 years old, it's really an astounding achievement."

Spectre has earned $300m (£198m) worldwide in less than two weeks and still has yet to open in a few major markets, including China.



Press Association.
Full story at Yahoo News.