Bond breaks first weekend British box-office record

The new James Bond film Quantum of Solace enjoyed a record opening weekend in Britain, earning £15.4 million at the box office, Hollywood studio Sony Pictures Entertainment said yesterday.

The amount eclipses the previous record of £14.9 million held by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire released in 2005, Sony added in a statement.

It also passes the total set by the previous Bond instalment, Casino Royale, which earned £11.4 million in ticket sales over its three-day weekend opening in 2006.

In Quantum of Solace, the 22nd official Bond film and Daniel Craig’s second outing as the suave secret agent, 007 crosses South America and Europe on an action-packed, stunt-filled mission to discover why the woman he loved betrayed him.

Despite mixed reviews, industry experts predicted Quantum of Solace would outperform Casino Royale, itself a big success earning $594 million in global ticket sales.

Quantum opened in Britain on Friday. It is distributed by Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the media wing of Japan's Sony Corp.