The 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, which features Daniel Craig in his sophomore 007 effort, earned an estimated $70.4 million at the box office, while setting a debut weekend record for a spy film, topping The Bourne Ultimatum’s $69.3 million.  Quantum of Solace, which averaged a stellar $20,400 per venue, easily eclipsed the opening record for a Bond film.  The previous 007 record holder, Die Another Day debuted with $47.1 million in 2002. Quantum of Solace earned 73% more than Craig’s first Bond effort, Casino Royale, which opened with $40.8 million in 2006.

Quantum of Solace has already taken in more than $250 million overseas where it has been running in some countries for two weeks.  In spite of its strong opening, there are some warning signs.  Nearly 60 % of the audience for the new Bond film was over 25, and the film hasn’t fared all that well with critics (its 66% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes is considerably less impressive than its predecessor Casino Royale’s sterling 94%) and audiences only gave it a B- CinemaScore.  Still Quantum of Solace has generated a lot of buzz with the fifth best November opening ever and the fourth best bow of 2008 so far, and it should continue do fairly well in the weeks to come in spite of competition from Twilight and Bolt.

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): November 14-16, 2008:

Led by Quantum of Solace, which was responsible for more than 50% of the total, the box office take for the top ten films was up a potent 55% from the same weekend in 2007.  Although it will face stiff competition next week when Disney’s Bolt opens, last week’s winner Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had, as ICv2 predicted, a very strong sophomore session, dropping just 42% and adding an estimated $36.1 million to its cumulative, which has already surpassed the $100 million mark, the first film to have done so since Tropic Thunder, which debuted on August 13th.  High School Musical 3, which still has a chance to pass the century mark, held on to fourth place during its fourth week at the box office, while bringing its domestic total to $84.3 million.

The next film to cross the $100 million barrier is likely to be D.J. Caruso’s thriller Eagle Eye, which fell out of the top ten, but which has earned nearly $99 million and should pass the century mark sometime in the next ten days.