Venom: Let There Be Carnage destroys box office expectations, injects confidence in cinema business
Smashing expectations, the Venom sequel’s box office is injecting confidence into a decimated global cinema business.
The anticipated comic book blockbuster Venom: Let There Be Carnage has thrust past expectations with a monster box office debut in the US.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage clocked the highest pandemic-era three-day American opening with a $US90.1 million box office haul. The result was $US25 million to $US30 million above projections.
Its mighty takings is breathing confidence back into a global cinema business decimated by 18 months of the covid pandemic, which saw tentpole releases repeatedly delayed as theatres closed the world over.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s box office is particularly buoyant given that two years earlier, on the same weekend, Joker opened at a comparable $US96 million. The anti-superhero sequel even bested its own predecessor’s opening – Venom debuted at $US80 million in 2018.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage stars Tom Hardy as the title character, a journalist who is accidentally bonded to an alien symbiote which morphs him into a brains-eating antihero/villain. It also stars Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson and Naomie Harris.
The movie opening has overtaken the stronger pandemic-era performers Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, F9 and A Quiet Place Part II.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage will not be released in Australia until November 25.
Also this past weekend, the latest Bond caper No Time To Die earnt $US119 million globally, which included takings for the UK, Germany and Hong Kong. No Time To Die has yet to open in the US or China. In several countries including Japan and Spain, its opening was higher than that of previous Bond films, according to Variety.
The Australian release date is set for November 11.
No Time To Die, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and upcoming films including Dune and The French Dispatch are opening much later here than in overseas markets due to the ongoing lockdowns in Australia.
While those releases are still weeks off, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and No Time To Die’s box office will provide much needed good news for the local cinema industry which has been through the wringer for the past three months with more than half the country, including the biggest moviegoing markets of Sydney and Melbourne, shuttered.
Cinemas in Sydney are currently slated to reopen on Monday, October 11, as part of NSW’s plan out of lockdowns. Cinemas and other indoor entertainment venues can operate once the state reaches 70 per cent double vaccinations with a four-square metres per person rule and a maximum capacity of 75 per cent.
Among the cinema releases that NSW missed out on during the lockdown are Shang-Chi, Space Jam 2, The Suicide Squad, Nitram, Candyman, Shiva Baby, Pig, Annette, Free Guy, Jungle Cruise, Black Widow, Old, Nine Days and Gunpowder Milkshake.
Canberra cinemas will reopen on October 29.
Melbourne cinemas are included in Victoria’s 80 per cent double vaccination reopening, which is currently projected to be early November. However, two locations – the Lido and Cameo – announced they will open its outdoor rooftop cinemas once the state hits 70 per cent double vaccination, projected to be around October 26.
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