CIS screens saw the successful start of the 22nd James Bond film. Quantum of Solace (BVSPR), directed by Marc Forster and starring Daniel Craig in his second outing as Agent 007, grossed $9,669,367 from 750 screens.It eclipsed earnings from the previous Bond film, Martin Campbell’s Casino Royale (2006), which brought its distributor Cascade $9.09 million. Quantum of Solace had a great per-screen average – $12,892, but it was still the only second highest such figure, conceding to the take from the Belgian animated film Fly Me to the Moon 3D (Cascade), the per-screen average of which was $15,198.
Last week’s leader, the animated sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (UPI), fell to second place in the face of the force of Bond, but it continues to amaze with its outstanding box office achievements. In its second weekend, this film grossed $7,264,816 from 850 screens (56% less than in its first). Its 11-day grosses reached $35,843,836, which is an absolute box-office record for distribution in the CIS for such a stretch of time. The second Madagascar became the highest-grossing foreign film ever in CIS distribution, the highest-grossing animated film ever in CIS distribution and UPI’s highest-grossing film. In the list of most successful films in CIS distribution, Madagascar 2 is second only to Timur Bekmambetov’s holiday season comedy Irony of Fate: The Sequel (20th Century Fox CIS), which grossed a total of $49.91 million.
The epic historical biopic Admiral (20th Century Fox CIS), starring Konstantin Khabensky as Admiral Kolchak, went from second place in the chart to third, putting $543,086 from 345 screens onto its account in its fifth weekend (a 52% drop), for a 32-day total of $33,133,443.The film is currently third in the list of highest grossing films ever in CIS distribution. The horror sequel Saw V (Cascade) retained its fourth-place slot, grossing out viewers to the tune of $414,625 from 200 screens (a 45% drop), for an 11-day total of $1,610,101. Having passed the $1 million mark in the week under review, Quantum of Solace and Saw V brought the number of “millionaire’s club” members to 128.
Besides the latest Bond blockbuster, there were six other new films, none of which made the top ten. Eleventh place went to Vadim Dulenko’s youth comedy Technology [Tekhnologia] (Nashe Kino) with Yevgeny Slavsky, which grossed $39,485 from 81 screens in its first four days and $42,688 in its first five, having debuted on Wednesday. There were new films back-to-back in 18th place through 20th place – Two Days in Paris (Cascade), the French-German romantic comedy directed by Julie Delpy, with her and Adam Goldberg starring in the lead roles (three screens, $17 260), the German animated film The Three Robbers (Cinema Without Frontiers; 30 screens, $12,562) and the British-Irish family drama When Did You Last See Your Father? (Art Film) with Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth (three screens, $9,513).
Another family drama, Stanley Tucci’s American-British remake of the Theo van Gogh’s film Blind Date, starring Tucci along with Patricia Clarkson, took 30th place (four screens, $3,383). David Mamet’s action drama Redbelt (BVSPR), with Chiwetel Ejiofor in the role of a martial arts instructor, had to make do with 40th place (two screens, $1,220).
Simon Pegg’s film How to Lose Friends and Alienate People put $2,880,147 into its piggybank in 25 days, making it the highest grossing film for distributor Luxor.
Total CIS box office from November 6 to November 9 was $18,980,321, which was 7.4% less than the figure for the previous weekend.
