‘Venom’ dances on, again leading North America box office

VENOM: the Last Dance, starring Tom Hardy as the titular anti-hero, held tight to the top spot in North American theatres with an estimated weekend haul of US$26.1 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday (Nov 3).

Though it has had a weaker opening than either of its two Venom predecessors, it has grossed a respectable US$90 million domestically and US$227 million internationally in its two weeks out.

Meanwhile the Universal and DreamWorks Animation film The Wild Robot, a family-friendly yarn about a mechanical creature having to share a remote island with fuzzy animals, actually rose in its sixth weekend out, gaining two spots to second place while taking in US$7.6 million.

Paramount’s horror film Smile 2, with Naomi Scott playing a pop star afflicted by a grim curse, slipped slightly to third, with ticket sales estimated at US$6.8 million for the post-Halloween Friday to Sunday period.

Also down one spot, to fourth place, was religious thriller Conclave from FilmNation, at US$5.3 million. Ralph Fiennes, playing a cardinal called on to “manage” the election of a new pope, finds himself caught in a web of unseemly ambition and shadowy intrigue that has drawn Oscar buzz.

But a much-talked-about new film from Miramax and Sony, fantasy drama Here from Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis, performed below analysts’ expectations, placing fifth with just US$5 million.

It uses AI technology to “de-age” Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, as part of an ambitious epic, set in a single location, that spans from the dinosaur age to the present.

That was “a weak opening for an original drama”, said David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

“To work, this kind of story needs to connect emotionally and powerfully,” he said, adding that critics’ reviews and audiences’ reactions show that this film does not.

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‘Venom’ still kills, topping North American box office

With a production budget of close to US$50 million, the film “release will end in red ink”, Gross remarked.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

• We Live in Time (US$3.5 million)
• Terrifier 3 (US$3.2 million)
• Singham Again (US$2.1 million)
• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (US$2.1 million)
• Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (US$2 million) AFP