On Oct. 5, 1962, Dr. No, the first ever James Bond movie, was released. Eon Productions expected the adaptation to be as successful as the Ian Fleming novel and it was. Starring Sean Connery as the fictional British spy, the film would gross $59.6 million globally. The execs were happy, so more movies were made, each replicating or topping the success of the previous one at the box office.
More than 60 years later, the appetite for Bond movies remains high. Audiences are still eager to see Agent 007 sip a shaken double martini and walk into a criminal-infested gala while donning a fitting tuxedo. So far, the franchise has grossed over $7 billion, and with that kind of success, it's unlikely that there will be a final installment anytime soon. The train will keep moving.
So, which Bond movies pulled the most audiences into theaters? Here are the top earners in the franchise.
10 Moonraker (1979) $210 Million Moonraker Where to Watch
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Release Date June 26, 1979 Director Lewis Gilbert Cast Roger Moore , Lois Chiles , Michael Lonsdale , Richard Kiel , Corinne Clery , Bernard Lee Runtime 126 Main Genre Action
Eager to tap into the space craze of the '70s, Eon Productions made Moonraker, which largely cheated on the source material. In it, Bond tries to stop the elitist industrialist, Hugo Drax, whose bizarre genocide plan includes building space shuttles and using them to spray nerve gas all over the world to wipe out most of the human population. The only survivors will be the 'genetically superior' friends he is housing inside his space base in the Amazon Rainforest. He figures that after the catastrophe, these friends will reproduce and repopulate the world with 'better' humans.
Riding the Wave
Because of the astronomy wave, almost every space-themed '70s blockbuster performed well. Moonraker's status as a mild sci-fi flick and a James Bond flick ensured its success at the box office. In addition to that, the marketing was properly done. Before the release, fans had been notified that Richard Kiel would return as the henchman, Jaws. The excitement thus surged and cinemas were crowded when it was time for the movie projects to roll.
9 Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) $340 Million Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) Where to Watch
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Release Date December 11, 1997 Director Roger Spottiswoode Cast Pierce Brosnan , Jonathan Pryce , Michelle Yeoh , Teri Hatcher , Ricky Jay , Götz Otto Runtime 119 Main Genre Action
Tomorrow Never Dies was critically panned upon release, but it has aged well because of how brilliantly it tackles the topics of capitalism and media manipulation. Here, Bond goes after media mogul Elliot Carver. The one-percenter is secretly engineering a conflict between Britain and China, hoping to profit from the resulting war. It's revealed that Carver has made a deal with senior Chinese government officials for exclusive broadcast rights once the bullets start flying.
Brilliant Performance Despite Stiff Competition
The performance is impressive, considering it opened on the same day as Titanic. If it had been granted more room to breathe, it would rank higher on this list. Nonetheless, its wonderful performance is baffling, considering it isn't a quality Bond movie. After being treated to a coup de maître in the form of GoldenEye a few years earlier, fans were presumably excited about the next Bond movie, hence Tomorrow Never Dies' success.
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8 GoldenEye (1995) $357 Million GoldenEye Where to Watch
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Release Date November 16, 1995 Director Martin Campbell Cast Pierce Brosnan , Sean Bean , Izabella Scorupco , Famke Janssen , Joe Don Baker , Judi Dench Runtime 130 Main Genre Action
Pierce Brosnan's first Bond movie, GoldenEye, is credited with ushering the franchise into the new, post-Cold War world. The new Bond's mission is to stop the disgruntled former MI6 agent, Alec Trevelyan, from crippling Britain's economy. Trevelyan aims to use the GoldenEye satelight to launch an EMP that will wipe out London's financial district. The antagonist feels his country betrayed him, so he is eager to see it sink to Fourth World status.
Absence Made the Heart Grow Fonder
Before the premiere, fans had waited eight years for a new Bond movie. License to Kill was released in 1987 and there was widespread worry that the franchise was being left to die. Thankfully, a new film with a new actor was announced, and audiences were more than excited. This, coupled with GoldenEye's general cinematic quality, helped drive ticket sales, resulting in one of the franchise's best revenue figures.
7 The World Is Not Enough (1999) $362 Million The World is Not Enough Where to Watch
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Release Date November 17, 1999 Director Michael Apted Cast Pierce Brosnan , Sophie Marceau , Robert Carlyle , Denise Richards , Robbie Coltrane , Judi Dench Runtime 128 Main Genre Action
Bond villains all share the trend of greed and selfishness, and in keeping up with that trend, The World Is Not Enough sees Elektra King, the daughter of a deceased oil baron, trying to monopolize the oil market. Aiding her is the terrorist Benard, who cannot feel any pain because there is a bullet lodged in his brain. As usual, Bond shows up to spoil the party.
Targeting the Youth
The World is Not Enough is another Bond film that wasn't good enough to succeed organically. Luckily, the execs knew what to do. For the first time, Eon Productions and MGM crafted marketing plans aimed at certain demographics.
The BBC reports that the studio struck a marketing deal with MTV, hoping to drive up excitement in American youths, who mainly felt Bond was old news, or as M famously said, "A relic of the Cold War.". Consequently, MTV aired over 100 hours of Bond-themed shows. Judging by the box office figures, the effort paid off.
6 Die Another Day (2002) $431 Million Die Another Day Release Date November 17, 2002 Director Lee Tamahori Cast Pierce Brosnan , Halle Berry , Toby Stephens , Rosamund Pike , Rick Yune , Judi Dench Runtime 133 Main Genre Action
Die Another Day might have made big bucks, but it was unappealing enough to influence the Broccolis to press the reset button, leading to the firing of Brosnan, and the hiring of Daniel Craig. Still, it had one of the best Bond girls in Halle Berry's Jinx Johnson. In the film, Agent 007 faces off against North Korea's Colonel Tan-Sun Moon, who is trading diamonds for weapons.
The Halle Berry Effect
Big names boost ticket sales, and casting Halle Berry as the Bond girl was a genius move for the producers. She was not only a sex symbol but also one of the world's biggest actresses at the time, so everyone walked into theaters to see how great her camaraderie with Brosnan would be.
Regrettably, Die Another Day was robbed of some dollars by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, an equally popular movie. Despite that, it performed fairly well. Sadly, for Brosnan, the poor reviews meant the Broccolis had to look for a different route to take the franchise.
5 Quantum of Solace (2008) $591 Million Quantum of Solace Where to Watch
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Release Date October 31, 2008 Director Marc Forster Cast Daniel Craig , Olga Kurylenko , Mathieu Amalric , Judi Dench , Giancarlo Giannini , Gemma Arterton Runtime 106 Main Genre Action
Set immediately after Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace introduces audiences to a scarred Bond who is still affected by the death and betrayal of his lover, Vesper Lynd. He wants revenge, but before he can figure out how to make his enemies pay, he finds himself chasing after Dominic Greene, the Quantum leader yearning to profit illegally from Bolivia's water supply.
The Sequel Effect
Ordinarily, most sequels never match the original, and Quantum of Solace was no different. Still, fans always buy tickets, hoping they'll be treated to the same awesomeness that was served the first time around. Such was the case in this scenario. Casino Royale not only introduced a younger and more exciting Bond but also told one of the best stories in the franchise.
The movie ended on a cliffhanger, giving fans every reason to anticipate the next one. Many people bought tickets. Unfortunately, the film was disjointed, with the mess all stemming from the Writers Guild Strike and the fact that the filming had begun even without a script.
4 Casino Royale (2006) $594 Million Casino Royale Where to Watch
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Release Date November 14, 2006 Director Martin Campbell Cast Daniel Craig , Eva Green , Mads Mikkelsen , Judi Dench , Jeffrey Wright , Giancarlo Giannini Runtime 144 Main Genre Action
Having just earned his Doube-O status, Bond is super enthusiastic at the start of Casino Royale. From sleeping with people's wives to running faster than Ethan Hunt, he does it all. His first major assignment involves putting a dent in Le Chiffre's operations.
Le Chiffre is a known private banker for terrorist organizations who has a bad habit of using his clients' money to gamble and invest in stocks. Bond's genius way of stopping him involves defeating him in a poker game, causing him to lose money belonging to dangerous people.
Curiosity About the New Bond
How good will the new Bond be? That was the question audiences asked themselves when Casino Royale premiered. Daniel Craig's casting was controversial, and some naysayers simply watched the movie hoping to see a botchfest. Thankfully, things turned out differently.
Craig was awesome, and so were the action sequences and plot. As everyone raved about the new Bond, box office figures remained high in subsequent weeks. By the time the theatrical run was over, the film had become the highest-grossing installment in the franchise at that point.
3 No Time to Die (2021) $774 Million No Time to Die Where to Watch
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Release Date October 8, 2021 Director Cary Fukunaga Cast Ana De Armas , Rami Malek , Ralph Fiennes , Daniel Craig , Lea Seydoux , Christoph Waltz Runtime 2hr 43min Main Genre Action
Craig's perfect final Bond movie, No Time to Die, finds the protagonist retired and enjoying life in Jamaica. However, he is forced to jump back into the field after learning about the former SPECTRE member, Safin. The now-independent criminal has created a biological weapon that only targets specific people based on their DNA. He plans to wipe up senior SPECTRE members, including Blofeld, who he is angry at for what he did to his family.
Last Hurrah for Craig
No Time to Die's brilliant box office performance was miraculous, considering that it was released shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic when audiences were still afraid of stepping into theaters. However, real Bond fans couldn't resist the temptation to experience Craig's final outing as Bond. He needed the perfect sendoff and loyal fans were right there to wave.
The film's financial success was also boosted by its overall great quality. It had some of the best cinematography as well as numerous emotional moments, notably Bond's death.
2 Spectre (2015) $880 Million Spectre Where to Watch
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Release Date October 26, 2015 Director Sam Mendes Cast Dave Bautista , Christoph Waltz , Daniel Craig , Ralph Fiennes , Monica Bellucci , Lea Seydoux Runtime 145 Main Genre Action
SPECTRE is the engine behind the world's major criminal activities in the James Bond universe, but Craig's version of Bond doesn't find out about it until the movie Spectre. "It was me. The author of all your pain," its leader, Blofeld, says in what is one of the most memorable James Bond movie quotes. The rest of the film sees Agent 007 running around to bring down the behemoth criminal faction.
A Long-Awaited Moment
For Bond fans, Spectre was a dream come true. The criminal organization that features prominently in the books hadn't been included in a movie for decades because of lengthy litigation between Eon Productions and the producer, Kevin McClory. Now the obstacle was out of the way.
Besides that, the film's marketing was top-notch. A new Aston Martin DB10 was announced as the official car, and Sir Roger Moore was hired to help sketch promotional material. With all these factors in play, Craig's fourth film became the second-highest-grossing one in the franchise.
Related The First 10 James Bond Films, Ranked
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1 Skyfall (2015) $1.1 Billion Skyfall PG-13 Where to Watch
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Release Date October 25, 2012 Director Sam Mendes Cast Daniel Craig , Judi Dench , Javier Bardem , Ralph Fiennes , Naomie Harris , Berenice Marlohe Runtime 143
MI6 is presumably a terrible place to work, since Skyfall has another former agent eager to destroy the agency, and, if possible, Britain at large. That person is Raoul Silva, and he is as nefarious as villains get. After he exposes all the names of MI6's agents stationed across the globe, Bond is forced to act. However, Silva proves to be too elusive to beat. The stakes go even higher when the antagonist starts hunting down M, aiming to kill her.
Big Names and More Room for Success
There was enough reason to be excited about Skyfall as it was directed by Sam Mendes, an Oscar-winning director who has never had a miss in his career. The casting of Javier Bardem as the film's villain helped build anticipation too, as audiences expected to see the same magic he brought to No Country for Old Men.
Box Office Mojo also notes that the film opened in 3505 theaters, which was, at the time, the widest opening for any spy movie film. With all these factors combined, the film became the most profitable one in the franchise.
