Third ‘Venom’ movies dances to a slower box office tune

Hello! Welcome to The Box Office Report for the weekend of Oct. 25-27, 2024.

1. Venom: The Last Dance

Weekend gross: $51M
Total domestic gross: $51M
Last weekend: New release
Percent drop: NA

The Venom movies have been the lone bright spot for Sony’s “Oops, we forgot to include Spider-Man in our Spider-Man” cinematic universe. The first installment opened with $80.3 million in 2018 on its way to a $856.1 million worldwide haul. Venom: Let There Be Carnage opened with $90 million for an eventual $501.5 million worldwide gross.

While Venom: The Last Dance didn’t sink to the lows of Morbius ($39 million opening weekend) and Madame Web ($15.3 million opening weekend), the final film in the Venom trilogy lagged way behind its two predecessors with a $51 million first weekend.

If this is the trajectory for the Venom movies, Sony should be worried about Kraven the Hunter’s box office chances in December.

2. Smile 2

Weekend gross: $9.4M
Total domestic gross: $40.7M
Last weekend: 1st
Percent drop: 59

After opening just ahead of the original Smile last weekend ($23 million versus $22.6 million), Smile 2 has slipped behind its predecessor. While Smile grossed $18.5 million its second weekend in 2022, Smile 2 could only muster up $9.4 million — putting it in a $10 million deficit against the series’ first film.