Spectre conquers weekend box office

James Bond debuted at the top of the box office this past weekend in Spectre, the latest installment in the spy franchise starring Daniel Craig, earning an estimated $73 million.

Although it didn’t top the previous Bond film Skyfall‘s opening weekend take of $88.3 million when it was released in 2012, it was nevertheless a great debut for the film, which has the distinction of already being the eighth highest-grossing Bond film domestically.

Overseas and in South America, Spectre did even better at the box office, topping the foreign box office with a leading $223.1 million across more than 70 markets, including China, France, Brazil and Australia. Combined with the domestic take, that brings the film to just under $300 million globally. ~Sharon Salsberg