Daniel Craig may have injected a much needed bolt of power and panache back into the 007 franchise, but despite Bond’s lauded rejuvenation, he still couldn’t overcome the power of…wait for it…a penguin. Blofeld, Scaramanga, Kananga, Dr No and now Happy Feet. Yes, the CG-animated tale of those Antarctic, musically-inclined creatures came out on top in last weekend’s US box office battle, beating Casino Royale by $2.3million.
Warner Bros’ boogieing penguins took $42.3million (£22.3m) whilst the return of Sony’s Bond took $40.6million (£21.4m). Still, 007 was never much of a song and dance man now was he?
On the international front, the 21st Bond outing did manage to reign supreme with another $42.2m (£21.2m) being generated outside the US. Over half this amount came from Bond’s very own Blighty – a success kickstarted by UK opening day takings of £1.7million.