Unfortunately, the theater industry took it on the chin over the weekend. However, the good news was that Venom: The Last Dance emerged atop the box office for the third week in a row. But here’s the bad news: The weekend turned out to be the lowest-grossing of the fall movie season with an estimated total of only $67.2 million domestically (per The Numbers). The previous low belonged to the weekend of October 18-20 ($67.8 million), which was headlined by No. 1 Smile 2. However, if there was a silver lining, it’s that Sony’s symbiote continued to catch audiences in its gooey money-making web.
Venom 3 made $16.2 million to take the No. 1 spot, which only added to the Tom Hardy-led film’s overall domestic total of $114.8 million. And international audiences turned out even stronger to support The Last Dance, as director Kelly Marcel’s Spidey spin-off has brought in an additional $279.4 million overseas. Thanks to those numbers, Hardy’s final appearance as the anti-hero in Sony’s trilogy is flirting with $400 million worldwide.
Meanwhile, the two newcomers which did manage to crack the Top 5 simply didn’t have enough fight in them to challenge Venom 3 for No.1. Lionsgate’s No. 2 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever ($11.1 million) just edged out A24’s frightening flick, No. 3 Heretic ($11 million), for the silver medal over the weekend. The Wild Robot checked in at No. 4 ($6.7 million) and Smile 2 rounded out the Top 5 with $5 million. Now, it’s true that the fall movie season has suffered its fair share of disappointment, but help is on the way.
Box Office Business Will Boom Soon
This weekend wasn’t all bad news for the movie industry, despite the record-setting low numbers posted. For instance, Barry Keoghan’s new film, Bird, posted a gaudy per-theater average ($24,104) during its limited release. And while last week’s No. 1 film continues to reign over the box office, Venom: The Last Dance will soon have some much-needed competition to help bolster the struggling fall movie season — and, no, it’s not going to be Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Red One that saves the day. To be fair, though, The Rock’s team-up with Chris Evans did make $26 million during its premiere overseas this weekend.
Gladiator II and the big-screen adaptation of the Broadway smash Wicked both open on Nov. 22 to get a head start on Thanksgiving weekend. And these two blockbuster hopefuls are the first ray of hope for the theater industry after what’s been a rather disappointing fall movie season. Director Ridley Scott and Denzel Washington’s Colosseum-sized collaboration is forecast to make $65 million domestically (per Deadline) over its opening weekend, while Wicked is projected to cast an even larger spell over audiences en route to an $80+ million debut.
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Now, Gladiator II and Wicked’s box office performances will certainly help theaters that are desperate to make money, but these titles’ predicted numbers pale in comparison to what Moana 2 is forecast to post. The highly anticipated sequel, which opens on Nov. 27, could make anywhere between $125 million and $135 million over the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
For now, though, moviegoers will have to settle for Venom: The Last Dance. And don’t sleep on Hugh Grant’s indelible performance as Mr. Reed in the must-see, Heretic. Meanwhile, Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans team up next week when the Christmas-centric Red One opens domestically on Nov. 15.
Venom 3 is the third and final installment in Sony’s symbiote trilogy starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock. It follows the events of Let There Be Carnage, where the anti-hero fought serial killer Cletus Kasady, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Brock was briefly transported to the MCU through the multiverse.
- Release Date
- October 25, 2024
- Cast
- Tom Hardy , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Juno Temple , Rhys Ifans , Stephen Graham , Peggy Lu , Clark Backo , Alanna Ubach , Cristo Fernández , Jared Abrahamson , Hala Finley , Dash McCloud , Andy Serkis , Reid Scott , Jack Brady , Ivo Nandi , Jake Allyn , Otis Winston , Jacob Tomuri , Brooke Carter , Fflyn Edwards , Elijah Cook , Norma Butikofer , Elizabeth Cook , Angie Hsu , Martin McDougall
- Runtime
- 110 Minutes
- Studio(s)
- Columbia Pictures , Marvel Entertainment , Pascal Pictures
- Distributor(s)
- Sony
- prequel(s)
- Venom , Venom: Let There Be Carnage