Venom: The Last Dance faced a tough climb to meet box office expectations domestically, but it more than compensated overseas, delivering a global opening comparable to the previous installment.
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| Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock/Venom 'Venom: The Last Dance.' Sony Pictures |
The final film in Sony’s Venom series — based on the well-known comic antihero — opened to $51 million across 4,131 theaters in North America, falling behind an anticipated $65 million and far from the $90 million that Venom: Let There Be Carnage earned domestically.
Overseas, however, it met expectations with $124 million, resulting in a worldwide start of $175 million. This was against a relatively modest budget of $120 million. Its debut in China brought in $46 million, marking the highest opening for a superhero movie since 2019, and the strongest Hollywood release in China for the year so far.
Early estimates had hinted that The Last Dance might reach a $180 million global total, potentially 5% higher than Let There Be Carnage's $171 million. However, that projection didn’t hold up, though final international numbers could still shift by Monday. Regardless, Sony and its financing partners, including TSG, have expressed confidence in the film’s performance.
In the U.S., the World Series showdown between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees likely impacted the box office, especially in Western regions, though Los Angeles and New York still led all markets for Venom 3. Insiders close to the film have also speculated that early Halloween celebrations may have drawn audiences away from theaters.
While it’s common for third installments to see a drop-off in viewership, those involved with Venom were concerned about the degree of the decline as comic book fatigue continues to surface among moviegoers.
In North America, the first Venom film set an October record in 2018, opening with $80.2 million, a title briefly held until Joker achieved a $96.2 million debut a year later. Let There Be Carnage’s $90 million start in October 2021 was a win for theaters recovering from pandemic restrictions and a high point for Sony. Theater owners had been counting on The Last Dance to generate strong traffic during a challenging October 2024, with some hoping it might hit $70 million.
Despite its fanbase, the Venom series has never been a critical darling, and the latest installment reflects that with a 37% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and the lowest CinemaScore in the series at B-. Directed by Kelly Marcel, who co-wrote the script with Tom Hardy, Venom 3 sees Hardy return as the titular character, with Marcel, his longtime creative partner, making her directorial debut.
Meanwhile, Paramount and Temple Hill’s Smile 2 took second place in its second weekend, dropping 59% to earn $9.4 million for a 10-day domestic total of $40.7 million. Initial estimates showed the horror film performing better, illustrating the impact of the World Series on overall box office performance.
Films targeting older audiences saw stronger numbers. Edward Berger’s Oscar contender Conclave, which was also released nationwide this weekend, earned an estimated $6.5 million from 1,753 cinemas, marking the best opening for a specialty film in this year’s awards season. Produced by FilmNation and Indian Paintbrush, Conclave features an acclaimed cast, including Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini.
The Universal-owned Focus Features is handling U.S. distribution. With over 44% of the audience aged 55 and older, Conclave performed well in Catholic-majority markets like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. World Series games on the East Coast didn’t start until 8 p.m., providing ample opportunity for afternoon and early evening screenings.
Universal reported that Conclave is nearly tied for third place with DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot, which earned an estimated $6.5 million from 3,427 theaters in its fifth week.
A24’s specialty release We Live in Time, which has continued expanding, rounded out the top five with an estimated $4.8 million from 2,924 cinemas, reaching a domestic total of $11.8 million. This has been the best showing of the year for a platform release, according to A24. Directed by John Crowley, the romantic drama stars Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh.
At the awards box office, Sean Baker’s Anora, distributed by Neon, has continued to generate impressive results as it expanded to a total of 34 theaters, achieving the top per-location average for the weekend at $25,504.
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