James Bond Box Office: Highest Grossing Bond Movies
Since the big-screen debut in Dr. No in 1962, James Bond series was always very popular with the audience. Lasting for almost 60 years, which makes it the longest-running movie series of all time, James Bond series grossed over US$7.040 billion on worldwide box office which makes it the sixth-highest-grossing movie series of all time.
If we take look at North America’s box office only, the series grossed around $2.137 billion which stands at around $5.931 billion after adjusting for the inflation. Numbers alone probably don’t mean much to you so let’s put it this way – if we adjusted a total for the inflation, James Bond series is the third-highest-grossing franchise of all time behind only Marvel and Star Wars. That’s right, it grossed more than Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Batman, DC, Spider-Man, X-Men, Jurassic Park or Star Trek, just to name some of the most popular franchises of all time.
As the next James Bond movie, No Time To Die is scheduled for November 25, 2020 release, and will surely end as one the biggest hits of 2020 we decided to take a look how James Bond movies performed at the box office and bring you a list of the highest-grossing James Bond movies. No Time To Die was originally scheduled for April 10, 2020, release but due to the ongoing pandemic was delayed. There is still a possibility that No Time To Die will be postponed once more but let’s hope that it won’t.
What Is The Most Successful James Bond Movie?
The most successful or highest-grossing James Bond on box office was Daniel Craig’s third adventure, Skyfall which earned $304.4 million in the United States and $1.111 billion worldwide. But if we adjusted it for inflation, things change quite a bit. The most successful Bond movies on US box office when adjusted for inflation are two entries with Sean Connery as agent 007 – Thunderball with $590 million and Goldfinger with $514.7 million.
What Was The Lowest Grossing James Bond Movie?
If we don’t adjust ticket prices for inflation, the lowest-grossing James Bond movie at the box office both in the United States and worldwide was Bond big-screen debut, Dr. No – it earned $16.1 million in the US and $59.5 million worldwide. If you count Casino Royale parody from 1967. as James Bond movie, which I don’t, then this was the lowest-grossing Bond movie worldwide with $41.7 million.
But adjusted for the inflation the least successful James Bond movie in the United States is Licence To Kill with Timothy Dalton which grossed $79.1 million. In that case, Dr. No stands much better at around $177.1 million.
Who Is The Most Successful James Bond Actor?
The most successful James Bond actor on the box office is Daniel Craig. Of course, if we don’t adjust ticket prices for inflation. Daniel Craig’s Bond movies grossed $840.9 million in the United States alone and massive $3.176 billion worldwide. He’s followed by Pierce Brosnan which Bond movies grossed $519.5 million in the United States.
But if we adjust US numbers for the inflation actually actor with the most successful James Bond movies is Sean Connery which movies grossed $2.281 billion.
James Bond Box Office: Most Successful 007 Movies
And now let’s take a look at how all James Bond movies performed at the box office. We’ll divide it in three parts – US box office, US box office adjusted for the inflation, and worldwide box office.
James Bond United States Box Office
So, first, let’s take a look at how James Bond movies performed at the United States box office without adjusting ticket prices for inflation. But note that we’re not including Casino Royale parody from 1967 as we don’t count it as a James Bond movie – it was more of a parody that didn’t feel like a Bond at all and a truly terrible movie.
If you’re not familiar 24 Bond movies were produced by Eon Productions and they are a part of Bond cannon. But there were two more 007 movies which are considered as unofficial Bond movies – Casino Royale spoof from 1967 with David Niven and Never Say Never Again from 1983 which was basically a remake of Thunderball with visibly older Sean Connery made during the Roger Moore era. As I wrote in this article, Kevin McClory who was one of the original writers of Thunderball retained the filming rights of the novel after a long legal battle. The result was Never Say Never Again with Sean Connery who was brought from retirement. So I count it as part of Bond series as it is based on original Ian Flemming’s novel and it has original Bond actor, Sean Connery, in the lead role.
| Title | United States Box Office (unadjusted) | Budget | Release Date | Actor |
| Skyfall | $304,360,277 | $200,000,000 | Nov 8, 2012 | Daniel Craig |
| Spectre | $200,074,175 | $300,000,000 | Nov 6, 2015 | Daniel Craig |
| Quantum of Solace | $169,368,427 | $230,000,000 | Nov 14, 2008 | Daniel Craig |
| Casino Royale | $167,365,000 | $102,000,000 | Nov 17, 2006 | Daniel Craig |
| Die Another Day | $160,942,139 | $142,000,000 | Nov 22, 2002 | Pierce Brosnan |
| The World is Not Enough | $126,930,660 | $135,000,000 | Nov 19, 1999 | Pierce Brosnan |
| Tomorrow Never Dies | $125,304,276 | $110,000,000 | Dec 19, 1997 | Pierce Brosnan |
| Goldeneye | $106,429,941 | $60,000,000 | Nov 17, 1995 | Pierce Brosnan |
| Moonraker | $70,300,000 | $31,000,000 | Jun 29, 1979 | Roger Moore |
| Octopussy | $67,900,000 | $27,500,000 | Jun 10, 1983 | Roger Moore |
| Thunderball | $63,600,000 | $9,000,000 | Dec 29, 1965 | Sean Connery |
| Never Say Never Again | $55,500,000 | $36,000,000 | Oct 7, 1983 | Sean Connery |
| For Your Eyes Only | $54,800,000 | $28,000,000 | Jun 26, 1981 | Roger Moore |
| The Living Daylights | $51,185,000 | $40,000,000 | Jul 31, 1987 | Timothy Dalton |
| Goldfinger | $51,100,000 | $3,000,000 | Dec 22, 1964 | Sean Connery |
| A View to a Kill | $50,327,960 | $30,000,000 | May 24, 1985 | Roger Moore |
| The Spy Who Loved Me | $46,800,000 | $14,000,000 | Jul 13, 1977 | Roger Moore |
| Diamonds Are Forever | $43,800,000 | $7,200,000 | Dec 17, 1971 | Sean Connery |
| You Only Live Twice | $43,100,000 | $9,500,000 | Jun 13, 1967 | Sean Connery |
| Live and Let Die | $35,400,000 | $7,000,000 | Jun 27, 1973 | Roger Moore |
| Licence to Kill | $34,667,015 | $42,000,000 | Jul 14, 1989 | Timothy Dalton |
| From Russia With Love | $24,800,000 | $2,000,000 | Apr 8, 1964 | Sean Connery |
| On Her Majesty’s Secret Service | $22,800,000 | $8,000,000 | Dec 18, 1969 | George Lazenby |
| The Man with the Golden Gun | $21,000,000 | $7,000,000 | Dec 20, 1974 | Roger Moore |
| Dr. No | $16,067,035 | $1,000,000 | Dec 18, 1969 | Sean Connery |
Like we said, if we don’t adjust ticket prices for inflation, Daniel Craig’s Bond movies are the highest-grossing Bond movies and we’re expecting his next one, No Time to Die, to join them on top. We’re projecting a total of around $250 million from the USA box office alone.
James Bond United States Box Office – Adjusted for inflation
As you see, if we adjust ticket prices for inflation things change quite a bit. Before adjusting for the inflation only Daniel Craig’s and Pierce Brosnan’s Bond movies made more than $100 million. But after the adjustment, all 007 movies except Dalton’s Licence to Kill grossed more than $100 million. You can see how much lower ticket prices were before and how much more people actually went to the theaters 30 or 40 years ago.
| Title | United States Box Office (adjusted) | Release Date | Actor |
| Thunderball | $590,000,000 | Dec 29, 1965 | Sean Connery |
| Goldfinger | $514,700,000 | Dec 22, 1964 | Sean Connery |
| Skyfall | $358,300,000 | Nov 8, 2012 | Daniel Craig |
| You Only Live Twice | $336,400,000 | Jun 13, 1967 | Sean Connery |
| Moonraker | $262,500,000 | Jun 29, 1979 | Roger Moore |
| Die Another Day | $259,600,000 | Nov 22, 2002 | Pierce Brosnan |
| Tomorrow Never Dies | $255,800,000 | Dec 19, 1997 | Pierce Brosnan |
| From Russia With Love | $249,800,000 | Apr 8, 1964 | Sean Connery |
| Diamonds Are Forever | $248,000,000 | Dec 17, 1971 | Sean Connery |
| Casino Royale | $239,500,000 | Nov 17, 2006 | Daniel Craig |
| The World is Not Enough | $234,100,000 | Nov 19, 1999 | Pierce Brosnan |
| Goldeneye | $229,300,000 | Nov 17, 1995 | Pierce Brosnan |
| Spectre | $222,400,000 | Nov 6, 2015 | Daniel Craig |
| Quantum of Solace | $219,700,000 | Nov 14, 2008 | Daniel Craig |
| Octopussy | $202,000,000 | Jun 10, 1983 | Roger Moore |
| The Spy Who Loved Me | $196,800,000 | Jul 13, 1977 | Roger Moore |
| Live and Let Die | $187,000,000 | Jun 27, 1973 | Roger Moore |
| For Your Eyes Only | $184,000,000 | Jun 26, 1981 | Roger Moore |
| Dr. No | $177,167,000 | Dec 18, 1969 | Sean Connery |
| Never Say Never Again | $164,900,000 | Oct 7, 1983 | Sean Connery |
| On Her Majesty’s Secret Service | $150,327,000 | Dec 18, 1969 | George Lazenby |
| A View to a Kill | $150,327,000 | May 24, 1985 | Roger Moore |
| The Living Daylights | $132,800,000 | Jul 31, 1987 | Timothy Dalton |
| The Man with the Golden Gun | $105,000,000 | Dec 20, 1974 | Roger Moore |
| Licence to Kill | $81,800,000 | Jul 14, 1989 | Timothy Dalton |
James Bond Worldwide Box Office
And now let’s take a look at how James Bond movies performed at the worldwide box office. Prior to the 1990s, James Bond movies made most of the money from US and UK markets but after that, it’s evident how the popularity of Bond series has risen in international markets.
The situation on the worldwide box office for James Bond series is similar to the unadjusted US box office. On top are all Daniel Craig movies, followed by four Pierce Brosnan entries. The only movie in the franchise to cross $1 billion mark is Daniel Craig’s third 007 adventure, Skyfall.
| Title | United States Box Office (unadjusted) | Budget | Actor |
| Skyfall | $1,110,526,981 | $200,000,000 | Daniel Craig |
| Spectre | $879,500,760 | $300,000,000 | Daniel Craig |
| Casino Royale | $594,420,283 | $102,000,000 | Daniel Craig |
| Quantum of Solace | $594,420,283 | $230,000,000 | Daniel Craig |
| Die Another Day | $594,420,283 | $142,000,000 | Pierce Brosnan |
| The World is Not Enough | $594,420,283 | $135,000,000 | Pierce Brosnan |
| Goldeneye | $356,429,941 | $60,000,000 | Pierce Brosnan |
| Tomorrow Never Dies | $339,504,276 | $125,304,276 | Pierce Brosnan |
| Moonraker | $210,300,000 | $31,000,000 | Roger Moore |
| For Your Eyes Only | $195,300,000 | $28,000,000 | Roger Moore |
| The Living Daylights | $191,200,000 | $40,000,000 | Timothy Dalton |
| Octopussy | $187,500,000 | $27,500,000 | Roger Moore |
| The Spy Who Loved Me | $185,400,000 | $14,000,000 | Roger Moore |
| Live and Let Die | $161,800,000 | $7,000,000 | Roger Moore |
| Never Say Never Again | $160,000,000 | $36,000,000 | Sean Connery |
| Licence to Kill | $156,167,015 | $42,000,000 | Timothy Dalton |
| A View to a Kill | $152,627,960 | $30,000,000 | Roger Moore |
| Thunderball | $141,200,000 | $9,000,000 | Sean Connery |
| Goldfinger | $124,900,000 | $3,000,000 | Sean Connery |
| Diamonds Are Forever | $116,000,000 | $7,200,000 | Sean Connery |
| You Only Live Twice | $111,600,000 | $9,500,000 | Sean Connery |
| The Man with the Golden Gun | $97,600,000 | $7,000,000 | Roger Moore |
| On Her Majesty’s Secret Service | $82,000,000 | $8,000,000 | George Lazenby |
| From Russia With Love | $78,900,000 | $2,000,000 | Sean Connery |
| Dr. No | $59,567,035 | $1,000,000 | Sean Connery |
Summary
As you can see James Bond series was always very popular with the audience and stayed relevant for almost 60 years without much decline in popularity as four latest Bond movies with Daniel Craig are also the highest-grossing in the series on the United States and worldwide box office. Of course, if we don’t adjust ticket prices for inflation which gives us a little different picture – ticket prices were much lower 30, 40 or 50 years ago and the number of tickets sold was much higher.
Still, we expect No Time To Die to do very well on the box office and enter the top 3 both in the United States and worldwide box office.
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