"Skyfall" has been in theaters for a total of three weeks (in the U.K. anyway) and has already earned a massive $538.7 million worldwide.
If —or when — it reaches the billion dollar mark at theaters, the film won't be the fastest to reach the mark. (That title will still belong to Marvel's "The Avengers" out earlier this year.)
Despite U.S. first week grosses of more than $100 million, it's not the domestic box office that's putting a dent into "Skyfall's" earnings.
Bond's making a killing overseas. Foreign grosses have amounted for nearly 80 percent of its total ticket sales. And, as of yesterday, "Skyfall" is now the second-highest-grossing film in the U.K. surpassing both "Titanic" and the final installment of "Harry Potter."
Other than the U.S. and U.K., here are the countries that have brought in the most for Bond:
1. Germany: $43.5 million
2. France: $42.9 million
3. Russia: $16.7 million
4. South Korea: $14.4 million
5. Sweden: $11.2 million
6. Brazil: $10.7 million (The film also set an opening record here of $3.1 million.)
Now, the bigger question:
Where are all of the film's earnings going?
They need to be split up between the remaining Bond franchise Broccoli heirs (Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson), the revitalized MGM studios, and Sony.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the majority of the film's profits — a 75 percent chunk — will stay with the former two parties while Sony will receive the remaining portion.
(Remember, the film cost an estimated $200 million to produce.)
At this point, the Broccoli half-siblings will receive tens of millions. However, if the film earns $1 billion, both the siblings and MGM will share in an estimated $150 million of profits.
This is good news for the back-from-the-dead MGM so they don't have to depend so heavily on the success of "The Hobbit" franchise, if the company plans to go public next year.
As for 007 actor Daniel Craig, other than a few bonuses for hitting box-office milestones, his salary won't be affected by any added profits from the film.
Craig's getting a reported $17 million for "Skyfall," a number that will surely go up over the course of the next three films in the works.
MORE BOND:
12 things you don't know about 007 >
Tour the deserted island featured in "Skyfall" >
Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
