'Spectre' stars walk the red carpet at 007 China premiere

"Spectre" stars Daniel Craig and Lea Seydoux attended a red carpet event at the China premiere of the latest 007 box office smash on Thursday (November 12).

Actor Daniel Craig, who reprises the 007 role for the fourth time, and actress Lea Seydoux walked the red carpet at a promotional event in Beijing, stopping to take pictures with fans.

"I've never seen him before - this is the first time that I've seen him. I never expected him to be such a kind man, doing signatures for fans and doing selfies for fans, so I feel very excited," said bond fan Qi Wen, brandishing a phone with a picture of her posing with Bond.

"I'm looking forward to it, I'm not sure if this one will surpass the last two, this is his (Craig's) third one so I want to see if it's better than the last two," said another fan Li Sheng, outside the premiere.

"Spectre", the 24th James Bond film, broke records at the British box office upon opening late last month.

It topped the North American box office at the weekend with $70.4 million but fell below initial takings for the last 007 film "Skyfall" which took $88.4 million when it opened in 2012. "Skyfall" went on to take in $1.1 billion at global box offices, easily recouping its estimated $200 million budget.

"Spectre," which had its world premiere in London on October 26, has won some good reviews from movie critics and is expected to add millions more to that tally when it opens in China on Friday (November 13).

With box office receipts already topping $3.3 billion in the first half of 2015, China is on course to set a new record this year.

Due to the massive market potential, Hollywood studios have in recent years targeted Chinese audiences either by adding extra footage filmed in the country or finding a China-specific angle.  — Reuters