“Skyfall” became the highest-grossing James Bond film ever this weekend, and pushed Sony Pictures Entertainment over the top for its best box-office year at more than $4 billion worldwide.
"Skyfall," the 23rd James Bond movie, raised it overall worldwide box office total to $669.2 million, passing the previous-best $599.2 million worldwide total taken in by “Casino Royale” in 2006. “Skyfall” grossed $49.6 million overseas this week, bringing its international total to $507.9 million. It added another $41 million in its second week in the U.S., where its overall gross is $161 million.
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The milestone caps a big year for Sony, which is the top-ranked studio at the box office and has had nine No. 1 films. This year, Sony has brought in $1.6 billion domestically and a studio record $2.4 billion overseas.
In addition to “Skyfall,” the studio’s biggest earners included “The Amazing Spider-Man” ($754 million worldwide), “Men in Black 3” ($624 million), and Sony Pictures. Animation’s "Hotel Transylvania" ($283 million worldwide).
“Exceeding $4 billion globally is a true rarity in this industry and it’s an extraordinary accomplishment for all of us at Sony Pictures,” said Jeff Blake, chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution for Sony Pictures, in a press release. “From ‘The Amazing Spider Man’ and ‘Skyfall’ to ‘21 Jump Street,’ ‘Resident Evil,’ The Vow’ and ‘Hotel Transylvania,’ we couldn’t be more proud of the way our films have performed all over the world.”
Sony Pictures Entertainment has one more film on its release calendar, “Zero Dark Thirty,” which will receive a limited release in New York and Los Angeles on Dec. 19.
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The “Skyfall” haul and the monster $199.6 million first-week take of “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” were the biggest numbers, but not the only noteworthy overseas performances.
Warner Bros.’ “Argo” raised its overall foreign gross to $40 million by taking in $8.7 million from 3,451 screens in 38 markets – just a 29 percent drop from last week.
Sony’s animated “Hotel Transylvania” added $7.8 million from 38 markets to up its overall foreign gross to $140 million and its worldwide total to $281 million.
“Cloud Atlas” upped its overseas gross to $15.4 million after taking in $5 million from four territories.
Paramount rolled out the DreamWorks Animation tale “Rise of the Guardians” in China, and took in $3.1 million from 7,500 locations.
The studio’s “Flight” took in $1 million from 400 theaters in Russia over the weekend. It will play in most major territories in January and February, once the awards season starts.