Image credits - Movie Mom
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The latest installment in the Venom franchise, Venom: The Last Dance, kicked off its theatrical run with $8.5 million in Thursday night previews at the domestic box office. While projections suggest it may open lower than its predecessors in the U.S., the film is expected to make a strong showing globally, with early forecasts indicating a worldwide debut of around $180 million—five percent higher than Venom: Let There Be Carnage‘s $171.6 million in 2021.
As of Thursday, Venom: The Last Dance has accumulated $35.8 million globally, including its preview earnings from 3,452 locations in the U.S. and Canada. The film launched in China on Wednesday, securing a robust $9.4 million—marking the largest opening day for a comic book film since Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, contributing to a total of $14.7 million from the Chinese market thus far.
In comparison, the original Venom debuted with a staggering $80.2 million in 2018, a record for October, which was later surpassed by Joker in 2019. The second film, Let There Be Carnage, opened to $90 million in October 2021, significantly boosting theater revenues during the pandemic recovery.
Venom: The Last Dance is poised to secure the biggest opening weekend of October 2024 so far, especially after the lackluster performance of Joker: Folie à Deux, which managed only $37 million in its debut. Despite a typical trend of diminishing returns for threequels in the U.S., Sony remains optimistic that fans will embrace this third installment, which carries a reported production budget of $120 million before marketing costs.
Critically, the series has struggled, with The Last Dance currently holding a 37% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by Kelly Marcel, the film sees Tom Hardy reprising his role as the titular anti-hero, while also co-writing the script with Marcel, who makes her directorial debut with this project.
This weekend also sees the release of Conclave, directed by Edward Berger and featuring an all-star cast including Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow. The Vatican-themed thriller is expected to cater to an adult audience and reported $500,000 in previews, aligning with expectations for such a film.
As both Venom: The Last Dance and Conclave launch into the box office, it will be intriguing to see how audiences respond to each film over the weekend.