Skyfall Becomes First James Bond Movie To Gross $1 Billion At Box Office

'Skyfall' has become the first James Bond movie in the 50-year franchise to gross $1 billion at the box office.

The box office saw a surge in ticket sales over the Christmas period with moviegoers rushing to watch the latest instalment of the spy flick, which stars Daniel Craig as the leading man and was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary franchise.

Daniel Craig still has pulling appeal as the current James Bond (WENN)

Figures show the movie has now grossed an incredible $710.6 million (£440 million) outside of North America alone and $289,600,000 (£179,289,932) in the US, making it the third movie this year behind Marvel's 'Avengers' and 'The Dark Knight Rises,' to hit the $1 billion mark.

When 'Skyfall' premiered in the UK in October, it became the first movie in the country's box office history to pass the £100 million mark in ticket sales.

'Casino Royale,' which was Craig's first appearance as 007 and released in 2006, was previously the highest-grossing James Bond movie with takings of $596,365,000 (£369,186,244).

Speaking on 'Skyfall's' success, Gary Barber, chairman of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, one of the studios which produce the franchise, said: "It is truly thrilling to reach this incredible milestone. With tremendous gratitude to all of the dedicated distributors and fans across the globe, we are so proud of both Skyfall and our 50 year association with James Bond."

Meanwhile, Sony Pictures' Jeff Blake added: "We couldn’t be more excited for [producers] Michael Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, [director] Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig and especially the fans who put James Bond in this very rare and very exclusive billion dollar box office club."

Listen to Adele's 'Skyfall' theme tune below…

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