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Released
1989 · FILM

Licence to Kill

James Bond goes rogue to dismantle a ruthless drug lord’s empire on a tropical island, racing against treacherous officials and a looming plot to assassinate the U.S. president before chaos erupts.

“James Bond is out on his own and out for revenge.”

Directed by
John Glen
Written by
Michael G Wilson, Richard Maibaum
Rated
MPA · PG-13
Runtime
133 min
ActionAdventureThriller
Streaming on
  • Paramount+

Synopsis

After capturing the notorious drug lord Franz Sanchez, Bond is sent to the island of Gaia to destroy Sanchez's drug empire. There, he encounters the enigmatic environmentalist Jinx and becomes entangled in a complex web of intrigue involving the island's governor, the corrupt CIA agent Felix Leiter, and Sanchez's vengeful brother, Sanchez. As Bond delves deeper into the conspiracy, he uncovers a plot to assassinate the U.S. president and must race against time to prevent disaster.

Credits

Actors
Editor
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Writers
Director

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How many hands made this film

The scale of the collaboration

A crew of 55+ credited

Why a floor?

This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.

Craft leads on file

Edited by John GroverShot by Alec MillsScored by Michael KamenDesigned by Peter Lamont

Box Office

1989 · Box office

💰 Box-office hit — grossed 4.9× its budget

Why 2.5×?

Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).

Worldwide gross

$156.2M

Budget$32.0M
Worldwide gross$156.2M
break-even (2.5×)

US & Canada: $34.7M — 22% of worldwide · International: $121.5M (78%)

Opening weekend: $8.8M — 25% of its US run.

Opening week (7-day): $13.0M — 38% of its US & Canada run.

Peak 1,575 theaters

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Also known as

  • James Bond 007 - Lizenz zum Tötende
  • Lizenz zum Tötende
  • License to Killen
  • Permis de tuerfr
  • 007 - Vendetta privatait

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