- Quantum of Solace box office: Starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, Marc Forster’s $200 million actioner opened with a solid – but unspectacular – figure in the domestic market. Even so, that was a Bond best.
- In other box office news, on its debut weekend the computer-animated adventure Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa easily beat the live-action comedy Role Models.
Quantum of Solace box office: Marc Forster-Daniel Craig collaboration sets domestic opening-weekend record for a James Bond movie
Nov. 14–16 weekend box office: Directed by Marc Forster and starring Daniel Craig, Quantum of Solace was the no. 1 movie on the North American (U.S. and Canada only) box office chart, grossing $67.5 million from 3,451 venues, according to final studio figures found at boxofficemojo.com.
Although that figure is about $3 million below earlier weekend estimates, the twenty-second official James Bond flick scored the best domestic Bond opening ever, easily beating the $40.8 million first-weekend gross of predecessor Casino Royale. (Inflation isn’t much of an issue here, as older James Bond movies didn’t open at thousands of American and Canadian theaters.)
Quantum of Solace cost a reported $200 million (as always, not including marketing and distribution expenses).
Also in the international cast: Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, and Jeffrey Wright, in addition to Oscar winner Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love, 1998) and nominee Giancarlo Giannini (Seven Beauties, 1976).
One of the year’s biggest global hits, but…
Update: Quantum of Solace ultimately collected $168.4 million domestically and a whopping $421.2 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $589.6 million – an impressive figure that, however, may not have been enough to cover its overall cost. (It’s also less than the global box office take of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa; see further below.)
Since James Bond is huge in Europe’s northern half, it should come as no surprise that Quantum of Solace’s top three international markets were (roughly speaking) located in that part of the world: The United Kingdom/Ireland, where the Bond movies are “domestic” productions, with a fantastic $80.8 million; Germany, with $40.8 million; and France, with $30.8 million.
Next in line were Japan ($21.7 million), China ($20.6 million), Australia ($20.1 million), Russia/CIS ($18 million), Spain ($12 million), South Korea ($11.6 million), Switzerland ($10.7 million), Italy ($9.2 million), and India ($9.1 million).
Animated animal adventurers beat live-action human losers
Nov. 7–9 weekend box office: DreamWorks Animation’s $150 million computer-animated comedy-adventure Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa was easily the no. 1 domestic hit, raking in $63.1 million from 4,065 locations.
Directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, this sequel to their 2005 hit Madagascar far surpassed its predecessor’s first-weekend gross ($47.2 million). In the Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa voice cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bernie Mac, and Alec Baldwin.
At a distant no. 2, David Wain’s R-rated comedy Role Models took in a just okay $19.2 million. Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott star as two energy drink spokesmen sentenced to community service, which consists of mentoring a couple of brats. Also in the cast: Elizabeth Banks, Jane Lynch, and Ken Marino. Budget: $28 million.
Also of note, Walt Disney Pictures’ Kenny Ortega-directed High School Musical 3: Senior Year added another $9.2 million at no. 3. Cume after three weekends: A surprisingly strong $75.6 million. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens star.
Global blockbuster Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Update: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa ultimately collected $180 million domestically and $423.9 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $603.9 million – or about $15 million more than the far costlier Quantum of Solace. (The original Madagascar reached a cume of $542.1 million.)
Its top international markets were Germany ($45.8 million), France ($42.3 million), Russia/CIS ($40.8 million), Italy ($34.9 million), Spain ($19.6 million), Brazil ($16.9 million), Mexico ($16.9 million), Australia ($15.1 million), Poland (making an unusual appearance among the Top Ten, with $11.6 million), Switzerland ($11 million), and Japan ($10.1 million).
Role Models ultimately collected a modest $67.3 million domestically and a measly $25.4 million internationally (possibly incomplete), for a worldwide total of $92.7 million – hardly a memorable figure, though in all likelihood enough to make the relatively low-budget comedy profitable.
Its top international markets were the United Kingdom/Ireland ($12.1 million), Australia ($4.5 million), Germany ($2.5 million), and Spain ($1.7 million).
”Quantum of Solace Box Office” endnotes
Unless otherwise noted, “Quantum of Solace Box Office: James Bond Domestic Record” box office information via Box Office Mojo. Budget info – which should be taken with a grain of salt – via BOM and/or other sources (e.g., the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Screen Daily, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline.com, etc.).
Comments about Quantum of Solace, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Role Models, and other titles being hits/profitable or flops/money-losers at the box office (see paragraph below) are based on the available data about their production budget, additional marketing and distribution expenses (as a general rule of thumb, around 50 percent of the production cost), and worldwide gross (as a general rule of thumb when it comes to the Hollywood studios, around 50–55 percent of the domestic gross and 40 percent of the international gross goes to the distributing/producing companies).
Bear in mind that data regarding rebates, domestic/international sales/pre-sales, and other credits and/or contractual details that help to alleviate/split production costs and apportion revenues are oftentimes unavailable, and that reported international grosses may be incomplete (i.e., not every territory is fully – or even partially – accounted for).
Also bear in mind that ancillary revenues (domestic/global television rights, home video sales, streaming, merchandising, etc.) can represent anywhere between 40–70 percent of a movie’s total take. However, these revenues and their apportionment are only infrequently made public.
Daniel Craig Quantum of Solace image: MGM | Sony Pictures.
Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd Role Models movie image: Universal Pictures.
“Quantum of Solace Box Office: James Bond Domestic Record” last updated in October 2022.