The 25th James Bond film, "No Time to Die", opened with a first-weekend US box-office collection of $56 million, falling short of the projected pickings of $60 million to $70 million, reports Variety.com.
Coming close on the heels of the $90-million first-weekend US earnings of "Venom: Let There Be Carnage", Daniel Craig's last outing as Bond may seem to have not done well, but it has already made an impressive $145 million in the international markets where it has been released. And it is still to make its debut in China, the world's largest cinema theatre market.
Additionally, the film, which cost $250 million to make, not counting the $100 million spent on marketing and promotions, is being financially cushioned by its many on-screen placement tie-ups with brands extending from Heineken and Smirnoff to Rolex and Aston Martin.
Variety.com cites two reasons that may be behind the less-than-expected first weekend earnings of "No Time to Die", despite universal critical acclaim.
The first is the film's long run-time -- two hours and 45 minutes -- which may have kept a number of senior citizens away because of the fear of spending too much time in movie theatres at a time when the Delta variant is continuing to cause hospitalisations and deaths in the US.
The second is the undiminished popularity of "Venom", which offers head-to-head competition to "No Time to Die". It continues to be a crowd puller, despite its second weekend earnings adding up to $32 million. Trade analysts believe "Venom" is cannibalising Bond audiences.