They say it takes a great mind to understand how money works but it takes an even greater mind to make money rain. And Venom just did that with a wonderful masterstroke and a bit of luck. Andy Serkis has taken the bait and won a big gamble.
For cinema operators and Hollywood studios alike, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” has been the loudest indication yet that maybe, just maybe, the film theater business can rebound from the COVID-19 disaster.
The Sony Pictures supervillain sequel sunk its teeth into the box office with $90.1 million, a debut that’s impressively reminiscent of opening weekends prior to the global health crisis. It’s the biggest three-day haul for a pandemic-era release, ranking ahead of “Black Widow” ($80 million), “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ($75 million), and “F9: The Fast Saga” ($70 million).
The follow-up film also surpassed its predecessor’s $80 million launches in 2018, which set an October box office record at the time. It now stands behind “Joker” ($93.5 million) as the second-biggest opening weekend ever for the month of October.
And the enormous expectations were not unattended it was kept intact and Venom 2 delivered strong results. After the pandemic, the film theatres were in a state of disarray, but due to the contamination going down one can now certainly say that we have a more promising future to look forward to.
What likely mattered more to filmgoers is that “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” was playing exclusively in theaters. People who were eager to see the developing relationship between Hardy’s Eddie Brock and his toxic alien symbiote had to venture to their local multiplex. By contrast, “Black Widow,” “The Suicide Squad” and other major pandemic-era offerings debuted simultaneously on streaming services, which curbed overall ticket sales.
It’s promising, and if the current situation prevails then we’ll return to normalcy in no time.