It will be of little surprise to many that Skyfall topped the US box office this week but the staggering box office returns will still raise a few eyebrows. The latest movie in the legendary spy movie franchise – directed by Sam Mendes – took a whopping $87.8 million in the United States of America and Canada. It’s the biggest ever opening weekend for a Bond movie, which has now taken a staggering $518.6 million since October 26.

Skyfall is the third movie to star Daniel Craig, following Quantum of Solace four years ago. QoS was widely regarded to be something of a disappointment for many Bond fans, yet Skyfall has been a serious return to form for the franchise. Rory Bruer, the president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures told Reuters “We've always been very bullish about the film, but I don't think anyone expected the kind of stunning numbers that we've seen… How many pictures in just over two weeks have earned more than half a billion already?”

To put the achievements of Skyfall into context, the movie that topped the US charts last week was Wreck It Ralph, which slipped into second place this week with $33.1 million. According to Reuters, Denzel Washington’s thriller Flight came in with just $15.1 million. Obviously, the lion’s share of this week’s ticket sales were always going to Daniel Craig and the newest Bond venture but regardless, this is may well be a disappointing turnout for the makers of Flight who will have been hoping that the Oscars buzz surrounding the film – and the hugely positive critical response to Washington’s performance – will have been enough to entice a few more moviegoers away from Skyfall. 

Watch the Skyfall trailer