Coming Soon Archives Showtimes and Tickets
As the 20th episode of the series arrived this week, many thought Bond would be overshadowed by the spies of the new millenium, such as Austin Powers and XXX, which saw a $73 million opening for Austin and $44 million for XXX. Many said that XXX would be the new Bond for new millenium. But maybe Bond just wanted to be Bond for the new millenium.
With six different men playing the role of Bond, 20 episodes spanning 40 years, since 1963, and a grand total of a whopping "One Billion Dollars" for the franchise's total, I don't think MGM is ready to retire Bond's career just yet. And evidence of this is
set new standards for the Bond films.
Another week at the Box Office presents Bond at number one. Die Another Day struck a cord in Bond fans this week as the movie debuted at number one with $47 million this weekend, topping The World Is Not Enough's opening of $35.5 million. In second was Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets with an impressive second weekend of $42.5 million, which now brings the total to $148.3 million, already a hit. As compared to its predecessor, the first Harry Potter movie scored $57 million on its second weekend a year ago. Though a $15 million shy of the first, still not bad for a sequel if you keep in mind that sequel usually gain about three quarter to a half of what the first made. In third was this week's other opener, Friday After Next with $13 million. Not bad despite the stiff competition. As compared to its predecessor, Next Friday opened with $14.4 million and totaled $57 million. Rounding out the top five this week was Eminem's 8 Mile, dropping fast with $8.6 million and totaling $97.5 million.
So the big movies stay in the top five, but will they be able to go the distance or fall fast down the charts. We will just have to wait and see as many more holiday movies are on their way to challenging these older favorites.
