The final film in Sony’s Venom trilogy is off to a strong start overseas but a more mild debut domestically. Venom: The Last Dance pulled in $72.8 million globally over its initial weekend, with $50.8 million of that coming from international markets across 64 countries.
The movie saw particularly big numbers in China. On Saturday alone it earned $13.9 million in China, setting a new record for the highest Saturday earnings of any comic book film released since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This amount surpassed Aquaman 2’s Saturday take of $9.8 million in China. Venom 3’s earnings in China also grew nearly 96% from Friday to Saturday, showing strong word-of-mouth there.
However, industry forecasts project a more modest domestic opening weekend of around $52 million across 4,131 North American theaters. Earlier estimates had placed the expected domestic debut between $65-75 million. Financial analysts estimate the film will pull in a total global opening of somewhere between $155-170 million.
Director Kelly Marcel, who wrote all three Venom films and directed the final one, has said she and the filmmakers knew this would be a trilogy all along with a planned conclusion. “We knew it would be three,” she told People magazine. “We knew it was a trilogy and we knew it would end like this from the beginning.” This was echoed by star Tom Hardy, who co-wrote the stories for the second and third installments.
The new film follows reporter Eddie Brock and his alien symbiote Venom as they face their final challenge. The story centers on the pair being hunted and forced to make a devastating decision, according to the studio. Returning cast includes Michelle Williams and Woody Harrelson, joined by newcomers Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rhys Ifans.
Critical reviews have been mixed so far, with Venom 3 currently holding a 36% critics rating on review site Rotten Tomatoes. However, audience reception has been more favorable at 79% on Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score platform Popcornmeter, indicating strong word-of-mouth could be ahead.
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The massive success of the Venom films mean the franchise has now surpassed $1.5 billion in total box office earnings globally. Sony is likely hoping the trilogy’s continued popularity overseas, especially in crucial markets like China, can make up for any potential shortfall domestically to avoid disappointing results seen by other recent comic book movies.
