“Venom: The Last Dance” continues to dominate the box office, enjoying another successful weekend at the top. The Sony release, starring Tom Hardy, added an impressive $26.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
Despite the quiet weekend leading up to the highly anticipated presidential election, “Venom 3” remained the top choice for moviegoers, beating out other big studio films like “The Wild Robot” and “Smile 2.” The only new release, “Here,” failed to make a splash with audiences, opening to a disappointing $5 million from 2,647 locations.
However, “Venom 3” managed to hold onto its position with only a 49% drop in its second weekend, a remarkable feat for a superhero film. The movie has now grossed over $90 million domestically, surpassing the opening weekend numbers of the first two films in the franchise. And on a global scale, “Venom 3” has already crossed the $300 million mark, making it a huge success for Sony.
Meanwhile, “The Wild Robot,” from Universal and Illumination, continues to attract audiences even after six weeks in theaters and being available on video on demand. The heartwarming animated film came in second place with $7.6 million, bringing its North American total to an impressive $121 million and worldwide total to $269 million. “Smile 2” followed closely behind in third place with $6.8 million, pushing its global earnings to $109.7 million.
The highly anticipated “Here,” a graphic novel adaptation by “Forrest Gump” screenwriter Eric Roth, was financed by Miramax and distributed by Sony’s TriStar. However, it failed to impress critics, earning a disappointing 36% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film, which takes audiences through different time periods in one living room, couldn’t compete with other releases and came in behind Focus Features’ “Conclave.” The papal thriller earned $5.3 million in its second weekend, dropping only 20% from its debut last week and bringing its total to $15.2 million.
In a surprising turn of events, two Indian films, “Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3” and “Singham Again,” made their way into the top 10 in their debut weekend, showing the growing popularity of Indian cinema in North America.
Other notable releases, such as “A Real Pain” starring Jesse Eisenberg, also had a successful opening weekend. The comedic drama about cousins on a Holocaust tour in Poland grossed an estimated $240,000 in just four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, giving it one of the highest per theater averages of the year. The film, distributed by Searchlight Pictures, is set to expand nationwide on November 15th.
While the box office charts may paint a positive picture, it’s worth noting that some high-profile films did not report their full grosses for various reasons. These include Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2,” Steve McQueen’s WWII film “Blitz,” and the Cannes favorite “Emilia Pérez.” Streaming giant Netflix, who is handling the distribution of “Emilia Pérez,” does not report box office figures. Similarly, Apple Original Films is following suit with “Blitz,” a potential awards contender, which is currently in theaters before its release on Apple TV+ on November 22nd.
Warner Bros.’ “Juror #2,” which received positive reviews, also did not report its domestic ticket sales. However, the studio did reveal that it earned $5 million from international showings on 1,348 screens.
It’s not uncommon for studios to withhold box office numbers, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, Disney did not report the box office figures for the Daisy Ridley film “Young Woman and the Sea.”
The final domestic figures will be released on Monday, but for now, the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, 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
