While critics may not have taken a liking to Sony Pictures' latest Marvel superhero offering, Venom, the audience reception has unexpectedly been exceedingly positive, with the film receiving praise from theatergoers on several popular review aggregator sites, including IMDb (7.1/10), Fandango (4.5/5), Rotten Tomatoes (89%), Metacritic (6.3/10), Blu-ray.com (7.31/10), and CinemaScore (B+).
These reactions are already paying major dividends for the Ruben Fleisher-directed film at the domestic box office as it is now on its way to a record-breaking $80 million debut, shattering the initial $55 million to $65 million projections from last week. Venom now holds sole possession of the record for the largest October opening ever, topping Warner Bros.' Gravity ($55.7M), and is also the seventh-biggest opener of 2018, topping Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp ($75.8M).
Internationally, the Tom Hardy-starrer has devoured another $125.2 million, bringing its global cume to approximately $205.2 million, which is a pretty exceptional start for a film that reportedly carried a relatively modest $100 million to $116 million production budget. The film's Chinese release date has yet-to-be-announced, but considering that the China-based Tencent covered around a third of the production cost, expect the date to be announced in the not-so-distant future.
Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper's critically-acclaimed A Star Is Born, which starred Lady Gaga in the lead, debuted in second place with $42.6 million stateside and $14 million internationally, taking its worldwide sum to $56.6 million.
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Reid Scott in an undisclosed role, Michelle Williams as Anne Weying and Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock in a behind-the-scenes shot from Sony Pictures' VENOM.
Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) and director Ruben Fleischer discuss a scene on the set of Sony Pictures' VENOM.
Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) stars in VENOM. Here's a scene we've seen teased in the trailers as he battles some Life Foundation goons in his apartment.
Reid Scott in an undisclosed role, Michelle Williams as Anne Weying and Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock in an intriguing new shot from Sony Pictures' VENOM. It's unclear what's happening here, but it seems like this is where Brock comes to get tested after merging with the symbiote.
Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) stars in VENOM. It seems that his MRI machine unsurprisingly didn't go so well as he's seen here battle for control of his own body.
Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) stars in VENOM. It looks like he'll need to escape the Life Foundation after coming in contact with the symbiote.
Golden Globe-nominee and Primetime Emmy-winner Riz Ahmed stars in Sony Pictures' VENOM as Carlton Drake, the shady founder of the Life Foundation. He'll be bonding with his own symbiote, Riot, at some point in the film.
Primetime Emmy-winner Riz Ahmed (Carlton Drake) and Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) star in VENOM. It seems that this scene will take place shortly before Brock bonds with the symbiote.
Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) stars in VENOM. Brock makes a startling discovery and we can see some symbiote at the bottom of the photo, so it's probably safe to say he's discovered that the Life Foundation is conducting dangerous experiments with human test subjects.
4x Academy Award-nominee Michelle Williams (Anne Weying) and Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) star in VENOM. Here we see Weying and Brock sharing a laugh during one of the film's lighter moments.
Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) and Primetime Emmy-winner Riz Ahmed (Carlton Drake) star in VENOM. Brock's investigation into the Life Foundation will lead him to question Drake, which obviously won't go well for the reporter.
Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) stars in VENOM. If you zoom in close enough, you'll be able to spot some well-placed Easter Eggs in his journal.
4x Academy Award-nominee Michelle Williams (Anne Weying) stars in VENOM. While everyone else seems to be running away, Weying is running straight into the fire, which is probably a symbiote outbreak.
Jenny Slate in an undisclosed role and Primetime Emmy-winner Riz Ahmed as Carlton Drake in Sony Pictures' VENOM. Here we see the pair either conducting an experiment or making an unsettling discovery.
4x Academy Award-nominee Michelle Williams as Anne Weying and Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock in Sony Pictures' VENOM. It looks like Weying is warning Brock of the dangers hidden within the Life Foundation.
Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) stars in VENOM. Based on his outfit, we can probably assume that this scene takes place shortly before he meets with Anne Weying (Michelle Williams).
4x Academy Award-nominee Michelle Williams (Anne Weying) stars in VENOM. It looks like she's probably on the phone with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy).
4x Academy Award-nominee Michelle Williams and Academy Award-nominee Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock) star in VENOM. The entire film takes place in San Francisco, so expect to see some beautiful locations.
While he may not be sporting his trademark logo, everything else about Venom's (Tom Hardy) appearance looks pretty aces.
After deciding to leave him out of the teaser trailer, the second trailer rectified that error by unleashing the beastly Venom (Tom Hardy) in all his glory.
One of Marvel's most enigmatic, complex and badass characters comes to the big screen, starring Academy Award® nominated actor Tom Hardy as the lethal protector Venom.
Venom features:
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom
Michelle Williams as Anne Weying
Riz Ahmed as Carlton Drake/Riot
Scott Haze in an undisclosed role
Reid Scott in an undisclosed role
Jenny Slate in an undisclosed role
Woody Harrelson in an undisclosed role
Venom unleashes in theaters October 5