HOLLYWOOD (Web Desk) – The spy blockbuster, Spectre, blew the competition away at the foreign box office this weekend, racking up a massive $152.6 million to lead all comers.
The Sony smash suffered a smaller decline than Skyfall‘s 54% and Quantum of Solace‘s 60%, partly due to significantly less competition from new releases, Variety reported.
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The latest James Bond adventure was powered by a huge debut in China, where the film picked up $48 million for the Friday-Sunday period – a record for a non-3D US film and only $11 million less than the previous 007 installment, Skyfall, made during its entire Chinese run.
So far, Spectre has earned $543.8 million globally.
“I think we’ve got our next $1 billion movie,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst with BoxOffice.com.
Spectre star Daniel Craig in what is rumored to be his last appearance as Bond after four previous films. It carries a gargantuan $250 million price tag.
In second place, Bollywood romance “Prem Ratan Dhan Payo” picked up $31 million. The film is a local language production from 20th Century Fox and already ranks as one of the top-grossing films of the year in India.
South Korea’s “The Priests” nabbed third place with $9.3 million, bringing the mystery film’s total to $25 million. “Hotel Transylvania 2” came in fourth with $8.9 million, pushing its global haul to $417.8 million.
Chinese film “A Journey Through Time With Anthony” rounded out the top five, picking up $6 million.
