Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die rules China’s box-office with $8mn openingCraig conquers China!

Hollywood star Daniel Craig’s last James Bond movie No Time to Die claimed the honour of deposing record-breaking local film The Battle At Lake Changjin from the top of the Chinese box office.

Throughout Friday, No Time to Die tracked comfortably at the top of the Chinese chart, with market share as high as 55 per cent in the morning sessions.

By midnight local time, that had fallen to 49 per cent and the film grossed $7.76 million, including online fees, according to ticketing agency and industry tracker Maoyan, reports variety.com.

Including midnight previews, Bond’s day one aggregate hit $8.12 million. The last Bond film, Spectre, opened with a $44 million first weekend in China back in 2015 before going on to achieve an $84 million lifetime score in the Middle Kingdom.

Given that small Covid outbreaks have recently reinstated cinema restrictions in certain cities, and that Chinese audiences have increasingly turned away from Hollywood films over the past couple of years, few in the industry would expect No Time to Die to reach Spectre levels. —IANS