NEW YORK (AP) – “Venom: The Last Dance” was not a huge hit in North American theaters. But in the lethargic fall movie season, even a moderately successful superhero sequel could dominate the box office for three consecutive weeks.
Venom: The Last Dance was No. 1 at the box office for three consecutive weekends, collecting $16.2 million in ticket sales from theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to Sunday Studio estimates. Dodged two new challengers Hugh Grant's horror thriller 'The Heretic' and the feel-good holiday movie “The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever.”
Following Tuesday's election, major studios have opted not to release new films in theaters. That's helped Sony Pictures' Venom: The Last Dance, the third film in the Tom Hardy-led franchise, maintain its position.
Although “The Last Dance” was not a big hit in Japan, Opening below expectations By late October, the company had grown overseas as well, with sales almost three times higher than in North America. The Venom sequel grossed $279.4 million worldwide, bringing its worldwide total to $394.2 million.
“Heretic” and “The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever” came in a close second. Counting only ticket sales from Friday through Sunday, “Heretic,” which debuted with $11 million, dominated. However, “The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever” has a reported opening gross of $11.1 million, including $2.2 million in sneak peek screenings last weekend.
Directed by Scott Beck and Brian Woods, A24's “Heretics” follows two Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who knock on the door of a man (Grant) who ends up regretting trying to evangelize. draw Although there were “heretics,” acclaimed Grant's darkest turn to date, the film did not go over well with audiences and received a CinemaScore of C+. In any case, with a budget of less than $10 million, “Maverick” can easily turn a profit.
The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever, released by Lionsgate and Christian entertainment company Kingdom Story Company, is about six brothers with a bad reputation who take over a local church pageant. The film, directed by Dallas Jenkins and based on Barbara Robinson's 1972 children's book, received positive reviews from audiences and received an “A” CinemaScore. The budget was also set modestly at around $10 million.
Universal and DreamWorks Animation's “The Wild Robot,” now in its seventh week of release, has barely seen the hook in theaters. It came in 4th place with $6.6 million, and its domestic box office gross was $130.2 million, and its worldwide box office gross was $292 million.
Sean Baker's critically acclaimed Anora, starring Mikey Madison as a Brooklyn sex worker, received wide release. The film, which was expected to be a contender for Best Picture, raked in $2.4 million from 1,104 theaters. The four-week total will reach $7.2 million.
The papal thriller “Conclave,'' starring Ralph Fiennes, continues to do exceptionally well for an adult drama. The Focus Features release added 487 theaters and earned $4.1 million in its third weekend, a slight 19% decline. It raised $21.5 million. Similarly, A24's “We Live in Time,” starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, continued to perform well, grossing $2.2 million in its fifth weekend for a total of $21.8 million.
However, overall ticket sales remain sluggish. Box office revenue is about 11% lower than last year, according to ComScore. Over the past two weeks, overall ticket sales have fallen about 50% from pre-pandemic averages, said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes the Franchise Entertainment newsletter.
Good news for theaters: In the coming weeks, Amazon MGM's Christmas comedy “Red One” (Nov. 15), Paramount Pictures' “Gladiator II” (Nov. 22) and Universal's “Wicked” (also Nov. (May 22nd) and Walt Disney Co.'s Moana 2 (November 27th).
Paul Dergarabedian said, “Better late than never, and we can expect some positive success stories to emerge from the Thanksgiving corridor. It looks like it's on par with some of the biggest frames out there.” Senior Media Analyst at Comscore.
“Red One,'' starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, was released in 75 international markets before opening in U.S. theaters, earning $26.6 million. The production cost of this movie was high, around $250 million.
Final national figures will be released on Monday. According to comScore, estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday in theaters in the U.S. and Canada are as follows:
1. Venom: The Last Dance, $16.2 million.
2. “Maverick,” $11 million.
3. “The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever,” $8.9 million.
4. “Wild Robot,” $6.7 million.
5. “Smile 2,” $5 million.
6. “Conclave,” $4.1 million.
7. “Anora,” $2.5 million.
8. “Here,” $2.4 million.
9. “We Live in Time,” $2.2 million.
10. “Terrifier 3,” $1.4 million.
