Editing Licence to Kill (section)

=== Box office ===
At the [[box office]], ''Licence to Kill'' grossed $156.2 million ($373.3 million in 2022 dollars) on its budget of $32 million ($78.9 million in 2022 dollars), grossing an inflation-adjusted profit of $287.2 million, making it the twelfth biggest box-office draw of the year.<ref>{{cite web|title=1989 Yearly Box office result|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=1989&p=.htm|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=29 August 2011|archive-date=2 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902143040/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=1989&p=.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Licence to Kill |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0097742/credits/ |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=Box Office Mojo |archive-date=5 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805171837/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0097742/credits/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Inflation Calculator {{!}} Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2022 |url=https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=www.usinflationcalculator.com |language=en-US |archive-date=23 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723111922/https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The film grossed a total of £7.5&nbsp;million (£{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|7.5|1989}}}} million in {{CURRENTYEAR}} pounds{{inflation-fn|UK}}) in the United Kingdom,{{sfn|Wickham|Mettler|2005|p=25}} making it the seventh-most successful film of the year,<ref>{{cite web |title=1989 Rank |url=http://www.25thframe.co.uk/pagetemplate.php?source=charts%2Fyear_chart&chart=charts%2F1989&title=Top+grossing+UK+films+1989&x=78&y=56keyword= |work=British Film Institute |publisher=the25thframe |access-date=29 August 2011 |archive-date=31 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331095348/http://www.25thframe.co.uk/pagetemplate.php?source=charts%2Fyear_chart&chart=charts%2F1989&title=Top+grossing+UK+films+1989&x=78&y=56keyword= |url-status=live }}</ref> despite the [[15 (British Board of Film Classification)|15 certificate]] which cut down audience numbers.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=238}} In the US and Canada, it grossed $34.6&nbsp;million,<ref name=numbers>{{cite web|title=Licence to Kill|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1989/0LTOK.php|work=The Numbers|publisher=Nash Information Services, LLC.|access-date=24 August 2011|archive-date=13 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313014413/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1989/0LTOK.php|url-status=live}}</ref> making ''Licence to Kill'' the least financially successful James Bond film in the US, when accounting for inflation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Franchises: James Bond|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=jamesbond.htm|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|publisher=[[Internet Movie Database|IMDb.com, Inc]]|access-date=4 April 2012|archive-date=12 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512231036/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=jamesbond.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> A factor suggested for the poor takings was fierce competition at the cinema, with ''Licence to Kill'' released alongside ''[[Lethal Weapon 2]]'', ''[[Ghostbusters II]]'', ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' (starring former Bond [[Sean Connery]]), and ''[[Batman (1989 film)|Batman]]''.{{sfn|Barnes|Hearn|2001|p=179}}
Other large international grosses include $14.2 million in Germany, $12.4 million in France, $8.8 million in Japan, $8.7 million in the Netherlands and $8.6 million in Sweden.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Estimated gross of the last five Bond films in 15 selected international territories|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=5 December 1997|page=22}}</ref>

Despite grossing more than 4.3 times its budget, ''Licence to Kill'' has made the lowest inflation-adjusted box-office return—as well as having the lowest profit margin—out of all 25 of the official ''Bond'' films as of 2022. The only other ''Bond'' movie with "Kill" in the title—''[[A View to a Kill]]'', which was also directed by John Glen—has the ''second''-lowest inflation-adjusted return of any ''Bond'' movie. However, ''Licence to Kill''<nowiki/>'s return ratio of 4.3 ranks it 18th out of the 25 official film entries from the series.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}