James Bond’s 23rd adventure has become the highest grossing film of all time at the UK box office, overtaking Avatar.

Skyfall has taken £94,277,612 at the UK box office in 40 days.

It overtakes the record previously held by James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar, which took a lifetime gross of £94,025,632 during its 11-month release in cinemas from December 2009.

Skyfall has also returned to the top of the UK box office, elbowing aside The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, which has set its own record as highest grossing instalment of the vampire series at £31.4m and distributor eOne’s best-ever performance in the UK.

The latest Bond film, produced by Eon Productions, MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, opened in 587 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on Oct 26 and remains on general release – eyeing the £100m mark.

Responding to the news, producers Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli said: “We’re overwhelmed with gratitude to the cinema-going audiences in the UK who have made Skyfall the highest grossing film of all time.  We are very proud of this film and thank everybody, especially Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes, who have contributed to its success.”