Casino Royale Opens #2 At US Box Office with $40 Million

According to Box Office Mojo, Casino Royale made $42,600,000 at the American Box Office this weekend, which was enough for the Number Two spot, behind the computer animated kids' penguin movie Happy Feet. In comparison, Die Another Day earned $47,072,040 its opening weekend in 2002. So 007's taken a bit of a drop, but that's not surprising given the changing of the guard in the title role and the change in tone for the series. Still, $40 million is quite an impressive opening, and certainly enough to make Daniel Craig officially a movie star! Sony's vice chairman, Jeff Blake, said "I think a $40 million-plus start for a new series of Bonds with Daniel Craig is a great beginning."

Casino Royale also impressively pulled in another $42.2 million internationally this weekend.

In honor of Casino Royale, Box Office Mojo has also posted some relevant box office stats. Check out their list of spy movies' earnings, and of the James Bond series.