The 10 most successful James Bond movies at the box office
For more than 60 years, the James Bond franchise has remained at the forefront of popular culture, which is a remarkable achievement that often gets overlooked thanks entirely to how much of a cinematic staple the long-running series has become.
In the modern era, any bankable property that starts to falter is either rebooted, remade, or reinvented in one way or another, while the closest thing to 007 in terms of sheer longevity is Star Wars, which continues drawing in huge crowds across film and television almost half a century after George Lucas first changed the face of cinema with his staggering sci-fi spectacular.
Universal Studios’ classic stable of monsters and Godzilla have been around for longer, sure, but as mentioned, they’ve been put through the wringer of revitalisation countless times, whereas Bond has remained largely the same suave, sophisticated, and sharp-suited secret agent since the very beginning. Not only that, but the production lineage has remained firmly intact, with the biggest changes coming when the MI6 operative is tasked to evolve with the times to maintain relevancy.
Thanks to the continued rise of ticket prices, it’s not a shock to discover that of the ten highest-grossing Bond flicks at the global box office, nine of them are the most recent entries. Daniel Craig’s tenure occupies all five of the top spots, followed by the quartet of Pierce Brosnan capers, and in a slap right in the face of Timothy Dalton, the tenth is Roger Moore’s Moonraker.
However, if the rankings were based entirely on ticket sales and nothing more, things would look very different. Adjusted for inflation, poor Dalton still remains at the bottom of the pile with Licence to Kill, but the upper reaches are seriously shaken up. As the only billion-dollar Bond, Skyfall remains at the head of the pack as one of four Craig-led features, but the complexion is altered beyond that.
On the inflation-adjusted roster, Sean Connery’s Thunderball and Goldfinger would occupy second and third positions, followed by Spectre, Casino Royale, and No Time to Die, before the original 007 gets back into the mix with From Russia with Love, rounded out by the aforementioned Moonraker, fellow Moore effort The Spy Who Loved Me, and Brosnan’s GoldenEye.
Not to turn this into a Dalton hit piece, but adjusted for inflation, he’s the star of two of the three lowest-grossing Bonds ever made, even if both of his adventures earned more in terms of cold, hard cash than any of Connery’s outings.
With the next iteration of the iconic hero carrying a completely fresh slate after the events of Craig’s swansong, the pressure is on for the next incumbent to pick up where their immediate predecessor and Brosnan left off by ensuring the newest Bond epics continue to be the most lucrative
The 10 highest-grossing James Bond movies:
- Skyfall (Sam Mendes, 2012) – $1.1 billion
- Spectre (Sam Mendes, 2015) – $880 million
- No Time to Die (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2021) – $771 million
- Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006) – $606 million
- Quantum of Solace (Marc Forster, 2008) – $586 million
- Die Another Day (Lee Tamahori, 2002) – $432 million
- The World is Not Enough (Michael Apted, 1999) – $362 million
- GoldenEye (Martin Campbell, 1995) – $352 million
- Tomorrow Never Dies (Roger Spottiswoode, 1997) – $333 million
- Moonraker (Lewis Gilbert, 1979) – $210 million
