Venom 3 Dominates Box Office as Tom Hanks’ Film Faces Challenges

This past weekend, “Venom: The Last Dance” continued its reign at the box office, bringing in an impressive $26.1 million according to studio estimates released on Sunday. The Sony film, featuring Tom Hardy, has proven to be a strong draw for audiences.

Despite being a relatively slow weekend for North American theaters, especially as the country approaches a presidential election, familiar titles remained popular. Notable holdovers included “The Wild Robot”, “Smile 2,” and “Venom 3,” while the film “Here,” which features a reunion of Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and director Robert Zemeckis, fell flat, earning only $5 million from 2,647 locations. Critics have not embraced the film, resulting in a low score of 36% on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Venom 3” experienced only a 49% drop in ticket sales during its second weekend, which is impressive for a superhero film. Cumulatively, it has grossed over $90 million domestically in just two weeks, compared to the more than $80 million taken in by its predecessors upon their openings. Globally, the outlook is promising as the film has surpassed the $300 million mark.

In second place, Universals’ “The Wild Robot” has also shown remarkable perseverance at the box office, raking in $7.6 million over the weekend—an 11% increase from the previous weekend—despite its availability on video on demand. The animated feature has totaled over $121 million in North America and $269 million worldwide. Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for Comscore, noted, “The Wild Robot has quietly become a fall season juggernaut. It’s astonishing to see an increase in ticket sales after six weeks.”

Meanwhile, “Smile 2” came in third, earning $6.8 million and pushing its global earnings to $109.7 million. Following closely behind, “Conclave,” a thriller about the papacy, secured fourth place with $5.3 million, having dropped only 20% from its debut and totaling $15.2 million so far.

The film adaptation of the graphic novel “Here” faced challenges despite being in nearly 1,000 more theaters than “Conclave.” Dergarabedian commented, “It was a slow weekend anyway, but it didn’t resonate as many had expected. There are plenty of films out there vying for the audience that ‘Here’ intended to attract.”

Adding to the top ten, two Indian films, “Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3” and “Singham Again,” debuted well. However, overall box office performance remains down nearly 12% compared to 2023, a discrepancy that may shift as the holiday season nears with anticipated releases like “Gladiator II” and “Wicked.” Dergarabedian said, “In a couple of weeks, competition will intensify.”

Another new arrival, “A Real Pain,” directed by Jesse Eisenberg, premiered in four theaters across New York and Los Angeles, earning an impressive $240,000 or $60,000 per screen—among the highest averages of the year. Searchlight Pictures plans to expand the well-reviewed film nationwide starting on November 15, rolling it out to over 800 theaters.

It’s important to note that box office figures can sometimes present an incomplete picture of the film industry. Several films, such as the Clint Eastwood-directed “Juror #2,” Steve McQueen’s “Blitz,” and the Cannes favorite “Emilia Pérez,” did not report complete figures for various reasons. Netflix and Apple’s Original Films have also opted not to disclose box office performance for their respective films.

“Juror #2,” a well-reviewed release from Warner Bros. directed by Eastwood, revolves around a juror confronted with a moral dilemma in a murder trial. While domestic box office numbers were kept private, the film garnered $5 million internationally, screening on 1,348 screens.

Even large studios occasionally withhold revenue reports, as evidenced earlier this year when Disney did not disclose figures for the Daisy Ridley-led film “Young Woman and the Sea.” Dergarabedian explained, “It really depends on the distributors. Sometimes, certain movies may not be reported due to concerns that box office success could be misinterpreted as a reflection of quality.”

The finalized domestic figures will be available on Monday. Estimated ticket sales for U.S. and Canadian theaters from Friday through Sunday, according to Comscore, are as follows:

1. “Venom: The Last Dance,” $26.1 million.

2. “The Wild Robot,” $7.6 million.

3. “Smile 2,” $6.8 million.

4. “Conclave,” $5.3 million.

5. “Here,” $5 million.

6. “We Live In Time,” $3.5 million.

7. “Terrifier 3,” $3.4 million.

8. “Singham Again,” $2.1 million.

9. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” $2.1 million.

10. “Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3,” $2.1 million.

This has been corrected to clarify that the seventh film in the top 10 was “Terrifier 3,” not “Terrifier 2.”