Bond movie opening 'breaks UK records'

11-03-2008 | DAVID YOUNG

Movie shot in Panama makes $10 million on first day; receives mixed reviews

Panama Star PANAMA. The new James Bond movie, which contains scenes shot in Panama and Colon, and brought a big cash infusion into the country, has broken box office records on its opening day in the UK taking nearly $10 million, says studio Sony.

Quantum of Solace, starring Daniel Craig, started filming in Casco Ciejo, utilized Casco Viejo streets as back drops, and converted The Old Union Club, turned Noriega officer’s club, into a swinging night spot. Scores of local expats were hired, and the old city was thronged with film crews and rubber neckers for weeks.

As a side benefit the newly opened Caffe per Due, near the filming site, got off to a running start as film workers crowded in for the low cost pizzas, wines and beers offered by the newly arrived Italian owners.

According to BBC News, the film smashed the previous record for a Friday opening of $8 million, held by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Opening day numbers also surpassed the 2006 Bond film, Casino Royale, which took £2.9m on its first day of release.

Reviews for Quantum of Solace - which sees Bond seeking revenge for his murdered lover Vesper Lynd - have been mixed.

"See it for Craig's fully-formed Bond: angry, icily unsentimental, and fleetingly borderline psychotic at the close," wrote Mark Monahan in the Daily Telegraph. But he added: "The expository dialogue scenes can be dull, and cram in so many machinations and double-crossings that it's easy to lose track of who's duping whom."

James Christopher in the Times called it "an intriguing watch". "Really, nobody does it better than the new 007."

But Anthony Quinn, writing in the Independent, commented: "There's nothing so fatiguing as a movie that won't stop trying to excite you the whole time.