When Venom: The Last Dance opened in North America far below initial expectations - with a disappointing $51 million - it looked like Sony Pictures might have another box office flop on its hands.
Morbius and Madame Web were both subjects of ridicule and lost a lot of good faith for a studio that's not exactly known for making quality comic book movies when Marvel Studios isn't involved.
However, since opening in theaters last month, Venom: The Last Dance has continued to exceed expectations. In fact, it's now crossed $400 million at the worldwide box office. As things stand, it will end up making more than Venom: Let There Be Carnage's $503 million, a terrific result considering it only cost $120 million to produce.
In fact, with a reported total production cost of $340 million across the Venom trilogy, this series will end up having made upwards of $1.8 billion in box office revenue for Sony Pictures.
Tom Hardy has said this is his last Venom movie, but there's no way the character will remain on the shelf for long with numbers like that.
Venom: The Last Dance was also the clear winner on Veterans Day in the U.S. grossing $2.3 million on the Monday holiday. That's an increase from of over 19% from last Monday; at the same point in their respective runs, Venom had dipped by 54.6% and the sequel by as much as 68.3% (compared to the week before).
Rumours continue to swirl that an Agent Venom movie is up next, and we'd imagine Hardy would play a supporting role in the project, particularly if the plan is to build to a major crossover featuring Knull.
Alternatively, we may see him in the MCU alongside Tom Holland in Spider-Man 4. It all depends on who you choose to believe...
"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.