Tomorrow Never Dies
Just as Bond the spy has his arch-nemeses, Bond the series has its movie-theater competition. Perhaps the most daunting of all is Titanic. The James Cameron epic was already a hit abroad when it opened in the U.S. on Dec. 19, 1997 — the same day as Tomorrow Never Dies, a Bond movie with less than half the budget given to Rose and Jack. Though Titanic has made substantially more money overall — more than any other movie in American history until Avatar — TND fared well, opening to about $25 million in the U.S. versus Titanic’s $28 million.
Other noteworthy opening-weekend clashes in Bond history include Octopussy vs. Trading Spaces (June 10, 1983), Licence to Kill vs. When Harry Met Sally (July 14, 1989) and A View to a Kill vs. the epic combination of Brewster’s Millions, Rambo: First Blood Part II and Fletch. (For what it’s worth, Rambo won handily, with a $20 million opening weekend.) Skyfall will have a clear playing field when it opens in the U.S. on Nov. 9.