Casino Royale nears jackpot for James Bond series

Concluding one month as the No. 1 hit internationally, "Casino Royale" is on track to become within the next 14 days the biggest boxoffice smash of all the 21 James Bond films released to date, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"Casino" grossed an estimated $36.2 million during the weekend from 7,730 screens in 63 markets, raising its international boxoffice total to $247.2 million and worldwide cume to $376.1 million. The reigning Bond boxoffice champ is 2002's "Die Another Day," which tallied $271.1 million internationally and $431.3 million worldwide.

The latest Agent 007 adventure should make up and surpass the gap in worldwide gross by "the weekend after next," said Mark Zucker, distribution president at Sony Pictures Releasing International, which is handling "Casino" in the U.S. and overseas. Zucker added that "Casino" will break "Day's" international total by this weekend.

The past frame saw "Casino" register the biggest Bond film openings ever in Australia (No. 1 with an estimated $5.5 million from 405 locations), Mexico ($1.5 million from 564 screens), New Zealand ($800,000 from 91 spots) and in each of the six other Latin American markets it played (Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador). This weekend, "Casino" opens in Brazil and Uruguay, then Korea on Dec. 21 and Italy on Jan. 5.

Thanks to `english agent` for the alert.

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