"Quantum" tops domestic James Bond box office

Thursday, Jan 08, 2009 9:17PM UTC

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Quantum of Solace" has raked in $167.1 million at domestic box offices, becoming in current dollars the highest grossing James Bond movie in the United States and Canada, the studio behind it said on Thursday.

The film surpassed 2006's "Casino Royale," the previous Bond movie, which made $167 million in the United States and Canada. "Casino" still holds the worldwide box office record for the franchise with $594.2 million.

Since it opened on November 14, "Quantum" has made $550 million worldwide, said studio Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Corp's Sony Pictures Entertainment. The film is still playing in theaters, and has yet to open in Japan.

Both movies star Daniel Craig as Bond, the British spy.

But adjusted for inflation, "Quantum of Solace" and "Casino Royale" trail the U.S. and Canada box office revenue of the 1965 Bond movie "Thunderball," which has an adjusted total of $538.6 million, according to tracking firm Boxofficemojo.com.

"Quantum of Solace" was produced in a partnership between Columbia and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. Columbia oversaw production, marketing and distribution, but MGM will handle DVD distribution.

Starting with the next Bond movie, the franchise returns to closely held MGM. There have been 22 Bond films overall.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Xavier Briand)