DirectorAndy Serkis’Venom: Let There Be Carnage, starringTom Hardy, chewed its way to the top spot at the Friday box office, with $37.25 million from 4,225 theaters. This is strong enough to make it the second-highest Friday of the pandemic era, following the $39.5 million that Marvel’sBlack Widowdebuted with. Unlike that film, however,Venom 2is playing exclusively in theaters.
Sony is predicting a three-day total of $71.3 million, but some industry estimates put the opening weekend at $80 million. IfVenom 2hits that number, it’ll be neck-and-neck with the three-day opening of the first film ($80.2 in 2018).The reviewsare certainly more favorable this time around; what was dismissed as silliness in 2018 is now being embraced. But fans have always been more enthusiastic about these movies; the first one, directed byRuben Fleischer, became a surprise blockbuster with a final global tally of over $850 million.
Hardy doesn’t just star as the Marvel antihero, but he also contributed to the story, similar to whatJason Momoais doing over at DC, with the currently-in-production secondAquamanmovie. InVenom 2, the reporter Eddie Brock, played by Hardy, and the symbiote parasite in his body face Carnage, played byWoody Harrelson, who becomes the host of Venom’s spawn.
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Coming in at the number two spot isThe Addams Family 2, featuring the voice talents ofOscar IsaacandCharlize Theron. The animated sequel made $5.5 million on Friday and is on track to have a three-day opening of $16 million.The Addams Family 2isavailable to watch at homevia On-Demand retailers, including Amazon, Redbox, AMC Theaters On Demand, and more. The first movie, released in 2019, made over $200 million worldwide.
The number three spot went toShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which had held on to the top spot for four weekends in a row. The Marvel movie is expected to add another $5.5 to $6.5 million this weekend, maintaining its position as the highest-grossing film of the pandemic domestically, with over $200 million.
At the number four spot is Warner Bros.The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to the HBO drama seriesThe Sopranos. Serving essentially as an origin story for the character Tony Soprano, the film is expected to make $5.3 million in its opening weekend. It should be noted that like every WB film this year,The Many Saints of Newarkalso debuted day-and-date on the HBO Max streaming service.
Rounding out the top five is Universal’smuch-malignedBroadway adaptation,Dear Evan Hansen, which in its second weekend is expected to make $2.4 million, taking its domestic total to a lackluster $11.7 million.
Venom 2has a week to gobble up as much money as it can, because by the next weekend, it will be in direct competition withNo Time to Die, starDaniel Craig’s fifth and final film as the iconic British spy James Bond.
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