'SPECTRE' shoots for $74m opening weekend in USA

Early box-office news estimates that the new James Bond film 'SPECTRE' raked in $27.5m on Friday. That includes the $5.25m from Thursday night 'preview' screenings.

'SPECTRE' opened on 3,929 screens, the widest release ever for the 007 series.

Industry experts expect the film to finish the weekend with a take of $74m, which is slightly down on 'Skyfall's $88.4m. This time around, Bond also has another new movie opening the same weekend: 'Peanuts The Movie', which expects to earn $40-$45m. 'Skyfall' had no opening week competition.

Deadline offers this summary of US cinemagoers: Spectre received an A- CinemaScore, which is the same grade as Casino Royale, a tad lower than Skyfall�s A, and thankfully higher than the B- that Quantum of Solace earned. One of the more interesting takeaways in regards to the difference between Spectre and Skyfall is that Daniel Craig�s popularity increased between the two films: 46% of the crowd came out for him this time vs. the 38% during Skyfall. The latest string of Craig 007 films have typically skewed toward older males, and that same demo was predominant tonight with 54% guys, 78% over 25. There was a tad more women this time around at Spectre with 46% to Skyfall�s 40%. Both males and females gave the film an A-, but pulling down its score was the older 007 fans: The blue hairs, who repped 35% of the 50+ demo, gave Spectre a B+.

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