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The latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale, has become the most successful Hollywood film in India so far. It has collected Rs 14.94 crores in the first three days of its release.
The film that came closest to its success was Spider-Man 2 that opened up with a whopping Rs 7.8 crore at the box office in 2004.
Both films opened to great reviews, but one of the main reasons why Bond scored over Spider-Man was that the former was released at a time when there were no major Hindi releases.
Bond released with as many as 427 prints on November 17, and made a record-breaking Rs 4.74 crore on the first day itself.
Uday Singh, Managing Director, Sony Pictures, says, "Casino Royale has exceeded our expectations at the box office. This opening is the largest for a foreign film in India."
So far, Titanic has been the biggest hit in India, making Rs 55 crore. But analysts feel Bond may make as much as Rs 40 crores in coming days.
Tushar Dhingra, Chief Operation Officer of Adlabs group, added, "Casino Royale opened to one of the biggest openings for a Hollywood film. Sony Pictures had marketted the film very well in India."
Casino Royale has done a phenomenon business abroad as well, grossing $ 42.2 million.
Trade analyst Vinod Mirani concludes, "Indians have always loved Bond films, be that of Roger Moore or Sean Connery. Casino Royale scored because there was international praise for the film and the promos were looking good too. The word of mouth also picked up, as everyone who watched the film loved it."
But whether the film will be affected by the much-awaited Dhoom: 2 releasing this week, remains to be seen.