Venom: The Last Dance is now playing in theaters and the Sony Pictures threequel earned a solid $8.5 million from Thursday preview screenings in the U.S.
This is, however, a franchise low as Venom made $10 million and Venom: Let There Be Carnage grossed $11 million three years later. However, like those, it appears this movie will ultimately exceed expectations at the worldwide box office.
Its projected global opening weekend has risen to $180 million today, a 5% boost from the second movie's $171.6 million haul. Domestically, it's still eyeing a $65 million weekend, but it's likely Venom: The Last Dance will be considered a hit when all is said and done.
A CinemaScore has not been generated at this point but it's scoring 3.5* on Comscore/Screen Engine's PostTrak, which puts it in the same ballpark as Venom (Venom: The Last Dance received 4*).
The Venom movies are largely critic-proof, and it appears fans are enjoying it more than them so far. While the blockbuster sits at 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, the Audience Score/Popcornmeter is a far more impressive 77%. It's still early days for that, but Venom received 80% and its sequel sits at 84%.
Short of a disastrous Joker: Folie à Deux-style drop during its second weekend, we'd imagine Sony is already trying to woo back Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel for Venom 4...unless, of course, the plan is for Eddie Brock to appear in Spider-Man 4.
"The most cinematic, monumental Venom movie to date, we said in our recent review of the movie, "The Last Dance leaves room for improvement but by upping the stakes and allowing Eddie and Venom to bond, it’s epic and heartfelt enough to leave us hoping this is far from Tom Hardy’s last whirl as the Lethal Protector."
In Venom: The Last Dance, Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel's greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy. Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie's last dance.
The movie stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, Stephen Graham, and Rhys Ifans. Kelly Marcel directs from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel. The film is produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy and Hutch Parker.
Venom: The Last Dance is now playing in theaters.