Bond - A massive relief for cinemas1 Oct 2021 14:13
Screen International's box office editor Charles Gant said the film's performance had been "hard to predict". But the early figures suggest it will be "a must-see film that connects with all demographics", which cinemas have lacked since they reopened, he told BBC News.
Gant described that as "a massive relief for cinemas", adding that it "gets customers back into venues", where they will see trailers and posters for winter releases like Dune, Eternals, West Side Story and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
No Time To Die "doesn't need to match Spectre and Skyfall", which both made more than £95m in total at UK and Irish box offices, he said.
"It just has to land in the Casino Royale (£56m)/Quantum Of Solace (£51m) lifetime ballpark - and there is now every sign that it will. If it does that, it points the way ahead for the cinema sector, and shows that, post-Covid, we can still have blockbuster hits."