James Bond enters UK box office elite with Casino Royale

James Bond's Casino Royale and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest have entered the all-time UK box office top 10, both breaking the �50m barrier - reports the BBC.

Daniel Craig's first outing as 007 is now sixth on the list, taking a total of �55.5m in ticket sales, making it the most successful Bond film to date.

The second Pirates film, also released last year, is eighth with �52.5m, according to the UK Film Council.

Titanic (1998) remains the top UK box office film of all time, taking �69m.

The last film to break the �50m barrier was The Lord of the Rings: Return of The King in 2003.

The other episodes of the trilogy also made the top five - but all three were beaten by Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which remains at number two in the all-time list.

The Full Monty, from 1997, is the oldest release in the top 10, at number nine with box office returns of �52.2m.

The top 20 films at the UK box office in 2006 took a total of �151m, with The Da Vinci Code and Flushed Away among last year's other popular releases.

Total UK cinema takings were �762m during the year, a 1% drop compared with 2005.

Admissions fell 5% to 157 million, attributed to the hot summer weather and the football World Cup.

UK ALL-TIME TOP 10 FILMS
1. Titanic (above) - �69m
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - �66m
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - �63m
4. LOTR: The Return of the King - �61m
5. LOTR: The Two Towers - �58m
6. Casino Royale - �56m
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - �55m
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - �53m
9. The Full Monty - �52m
10. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace - �51m

Thanks to `pjh2003` for the alert.

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