VENOM Had The Biggest Ever Opening Day For A Solo Superhero Movie In China With $34 Million
We scoffed at Sony's plans for a Spider-Man-less Venom movie & while the finished product did prove to be highly divisive, there's no arguing with the success it's enjoyed. Get the latest BO updates here.
Sony Pictures' Venom did not go over very well with most critics and more than a few fans, but Tom Hardy's psychotic symbiote flick still managed to bite a hefty chunk out of the box office across The US - and it wont be stopping there.
According to a report from Forbes, Venom took in a massive $34.2 million on its first day of release in The Middle Kingdom, easily topping Spider-Man: Homecoming's $21.6m last year. In fact, this gives Venom the strongest opening day ever for a solo superhero film in China, and the second-biggest for any superhero movie after the team-based Avengers: Infinity War.
If the Spider-Man spinoff continues to play well in China, Forbes estimate that it could finish its theatrical run with a $700m-$750m global cume, which is pretty damn impressive - especially when taking its relatively small budget into consideration.
Be sure to let us know what you think of these latest figures below, and you can also check out the recent Chinese trailer and poster along with a rundown of the movie's most batshit crazy moments.
Journalist Eddie Brock is trying to take down Carlton Drake, the notorious and brilliant founder of the Life Foundation. While investigating one of Drake's experiments, Eddie's body merges with the alien Venom -- leaving him with superhuman strength and power. Twisted, dark and fueled by rage, Venom tries to control the new and dangerous abilities that Eddie finds so intoxicating.
To view the moments all at once, simply click on the VIEW LIST (ONE PAGE) button below!
Tom Hardy's Performance
Yes, the star of the movie gets his very own spot on this list, and for very good reason.
Tom Hardy's performance as Eddie Brock/Venom has been lambasted and praised in equal measure, and when you see some of the choices he makes with this character you'll likely understand why.
With his accent veering constantly between standard American and that infamous New York/Boston mumble, the Academy Award-nominated actor tears through Venom like a wild-eyed force of nature, and is by far the most memorable part of the film... for better or worse!
A Nice Chicken Dinner
In easily the most gross-out moment of the movie, Eddie Brock is compelled by his ravenous new friend to eat a rotten chicken carcass out of the garbage.
Eddie starts off with a few frozen chicken nuggets before diving right into the trash and devouring the contents. He then rushes into the bathroom and vomits - quite graphically - into the toilet.
It's... not pleasant.
A Dip With The Lobsters
Once Eddie realizes that something is very wrong with him, he follows his ex Annie and her new boyfriend into a restaurant, which probably wasn't the best place to take a constantly hungry alien parasite.
Venom forces his host to try a few morsels from various plates before Brock dives into a lobster tank to cool down, biting into a live crustacean while he's at it.
Apparently, Hardy came up with the idea to leap into the tank, and fake lobsters needed to be flown in at the last minute to accommodate him.
Venom Likes Heads
Who doesn't, right?
Venom may have dispensed with that rumored R-rating, but that doesn't mean it skimps on the brutality.
There's no blood and it's never particularly graphic, but Venom does gleefully chow-down on quite a few heads in this movie, which is something we never expected to see in a PG-13 "superhero" flick.
F-Bomb
Just in case it wasn't already abundantly clear that Venom does not take place in the established Marvel Cinematic Universe, Eddie Brock drops an F-bomb towards the end of the movie.
Sure, The X-Men movies are also produced in associations with Marvel Studios and characters curse-up a storm in them, but with Sony now sharing a much closer connection to The MCU thanks to the Spider-Man deal, this is a little more surprising.
If that crossover ever does happen, Venom is gonna have to wash his mouth out with soap.
Venom Calls Eddie A Pussy
Similarly, it's hard to imagine any character associated with The MCU referring to someone else as a "pussy" (edit: Tony Stark does in Iron Man 3, which completely slipped my mind), but that's what happens in Venom.
To be fair, it's actually one of the funniest moments in the movie, as Venom urges Eddie to jump out of a window only to berate his lack of cojones when we then cut to him taking the elevator instead.
Venom Makes Out With Eddie (Kinda)
One of the early Twitter reactions got some attention when it revealed that Venom and Eddie make out in the movie, but when the scene is put into context that's not exactly what happens.
Yes, Eddie and Venom do kiss, but the symbiote is bonded to Annie at the time (we get a quick glimpse of She-Venom) which obviously doesn't paint quite the homoerotic picture many fans had in their minds after the initial Tweet.
Carnage
As rumored, Woody Harrelson does indeed show up in the mid-credits scene as Cletus Kasady in a faintly ridiculous red wig, and teases the "Carnage" to come.
It's a decent set-up for a sequel featuring the serial killing villain, but it has so little to do with the movie we just watched that it feels dropped in out of nowhere as a result.
"Meanwhile, In Another Universe"
Rather than tease a connection to the live-action MCU Spider-Man, the post-credits scene of Venom establishes a link to the animated universe of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.
We get a clip from that movie featuring Miles Morales chasing The Prowler before visiting the grave of Peter Parker, only to discover that the original Webhead is still alive in another dimension.
It's an impressive scene, but just another example of some of the bonkers choices the Venom movie makes.