Quantum of Solace, the latest James Bond flick brought in 70.4 million dollars in its opening North American weekend, the highest ever for the Bond Franchise.

Starring Daniel Craig as 007, the movie reached North America late in October, thus stoking curiosity and fanfare at the North American box office. MGM and Sony played the game perfectly delaying the movie with excruciating suspense.

The movie’s global cumulative gross through Sunday was $322 million, according to Sony. “It’s an extraordinary opening that speaks to how much audiences have embraced Daniel Craig as Bond,” said Rory Bruer, Sony’s president for domestic distribution.

The good performance is solace for the two companies as combined production and marketing costs exceeded $400 million.

The story was panned by critics: It shows 007 on a mission to avenge the murder of his lover aided by a Russian-Bolivian agent (Olga Kurylinko) and also prevents a criminal from taking control over a country’s water supply.

Domestic sales for “Quantum of Solace” were sharply higher than those for Casino Royale the 2006 franchise entry that marked Mr. Craig’s debut in the role. That film sold $40.8 million in tickets during its first weekend in theaters. The previous high watermark was set by Die Another Day, which opened with $47.1 million in 2002.

Apart from that, “Quantum” could likely virtually tie “The Incredibles” for the biggest non-Harry Potter November debut ever. On its international sales, the Marc Forster-directed action movie has earned $56.1 million in 73 countries during the weekend. Having been screened overseas starting two weeks ago; it has hauled in a foreign total of $251.6 million, making it to have a worldwide tally of around $322 million

The Dream Works Animation film “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” was No. 2 at the weekend box office with $36.2 million in sales (for a new domestic total of $118.1 million). “Role Models,” an R-rated comedy from Universal Pictures, was third with $11.5 million ($37.8 million over all), and High School Musical3: Senior Year (Disney) was fourth with $5.7 million ($84.3 million over all).