Our final SPECTRE accuracy checklist

SPECTRE promotional art

SPECTRE has been out since Oct. 26, so we decided to do one final checklist of the accuracy of various reports about the 24th James Bond film.

—Naomie Harris’ Moneypenny would be “more of a sidekick” as reported by Baz Bamigboye in the Daily Mail in September 2013.

The scribe wrote that, “Director Sam Mendes, Craig, and producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson are all big fans of Naomie’s and don’t want her to be too desk-bound, as other Moneypennys have been.”

In the climax of the movie, Moneypenny, M (Ralph Fiennes) and Tanner (Rory Kinnear) do assist Bond and at personal risk. Sidekick is too strong a word, but Harris certainly wasn’t desk-bound. Check.

—Christoph Waltz would play Blofeld.  The Mail on Sunday, a sister publication to the Daily Mail, REPORTED LATER IN NOVEMBER 2014 that Waltz would play Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the new movie but be announced as portraying “an unknown character called Franz Oberhauser, son of the late Hans Oberhauser, a ski instructor who acted as a father figure to Bond.”

Waltz denied it. But it was true. Check.

–Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, not originally part of the crew, were brought back as writers. The Daily Mail’s Bamigboye reported that in JUNE 2014. It was confirmed in December 2014, at a media event where the title of the movie was disclosed. Check.

–David Bautista would play the movie’s henchman: First reported in LATINO REVIEW in October 2014. Check.

–Hoyte van Hoytema would be the director of photography: This was reported on the evening of Sept. 16, 2014, ON THE HITFIX WEBSITE and the morning of Sept. 17, 2014 at JAMES BOND MAGASINET, a Norwegian 007 publication. Check.

–Hilary Swank would be in the cast: The Independent, IN A NOVEMBER 2014 STORY</a>, said, “Recently, the web has spawned wild rumours that she will be the next Bond girl, starring opposite Daniel Craig in the forthcoming Sam Mendes-directed 007 film.”  Didn’t happen.

–Monica Bellucci would be in the cast: The possibility was mentioned in passing  IN A DEC. 2, 2014 POST ON THE DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD WEBSITE</a>. Bellucci’s participation in the movie was announced two days later. Check.

For earlier examples, CLICK HERE for a Dec. 5, 2014 post on this blog.

 

SPECTRE global box office at about $750 million

SPECTRE teaser poster

SPECTRE’s worldwide box office is now at about $750 million, according to a tweet by Exhibitor Relations, which tracks movie ticket sales.

The 24th James Bond film has been out since Oct. 26, when it premiered in the U.K.

SPECTRE added an estimated $12.8 million to its U.S.-Canada box office this weekend, according to Box Office Mojo.

The 007 adventure, after four weekends in release in the U.S. and Canada, has generated about $176 million in ticket sales in the region.

The results for the Nov. 27-28 weekend — part of a long holiday weekend in the U.S. — represented only a 15 percent decline from the previous weekend’s $15 million. A decline of 50 percent is considered normal.

SPECTRE was No. 4 for the weekend behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, the animated movie The Good Dinosaur and Creed.

Skyfall, the previous 007 film, had a worldwide box office of $1.11 billion, including $304.4 million in the U.S. and Canada.

SPECTRE has sold an estimated 20.4 million tickets in the U.S. and Canada, according to Box Office Mojo. That’s line with with most 007 films of the past 20 years, which sold between 23.4 million and 27.6 million each.

The one exception was Skyfall, which sold 37.8 million tickets in the region. That was the most for a Bond film in decades. You Only Live Twice sold 35.9 million tickets in the U.S. and Canada in 1967.

Here’s the tweet from Exhibitor Relations. Meanwhile, a bit later, Box Office Mojo came out with a figure of $749.6 million.:

007 stayed on target as SPECTRE dipped just -15% w/ $12.8M, $176M total, $750M+ worldwide.

— Exhibitor Relations (@ERCboxoffice) November 29, 2015

UPDATE (Nov. 30) — The final SPECTRE figure for the Nov. 27-29 weekend was $12.9 million, according to Box Office Mojo.