SPECTRE , the 24th entry in the long-running James Bond series, is now the U.K.'s biggest cinematic opening of all time, MGM Studios and Sony Pictures announced Sunday.

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Across the six territories in which it debuted, SPECTRE earned a whopping $80.4 million. In the United Kingdom specifically, the latest 007 film pulled in an estimated £41.7 million ($63.8 million USD) during its first seven days.As such, SPECTRE not only eclipsed Skyfall's seven-day record gross, but also managed to dethrone Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as the biggest opening in the nation's box office history."We are delighted that audiences in the UK and Ireland continue to embrace these stories about one of our biggest and best cultural icons," Sony Pictures UK managing director Peter Taylor said. "This opening proves once again, that the film world of James Bond speaks to cinema-goers like no other.”SPECTRE opens in North America this coming Friday and stars Daniel Craig as the iconic Agent 007.

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter