Variety: October 4, 2021
“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” roared to $90.1 million in its debut, setting a new pandemic record. It’s an impressive result, one that provides a lifeline to struggling movie theaters and (once again) proves Marvel’s might at the box office.
The much darker “Venom” follow-up comes from Sony Pictures and is separate from Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, which recently delivered “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Black Widow” — the two highest-grossing films of the year at the domestic box office. If its first three days in theaters are any indication, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” is on track to join those blockbusters as 2021’s biggest earners. The film is playing only in cinemas, as opposed to being available in a hybrid release on-demand — a factor that should help ticket sales.
“We are also pleased that patience and theatrical exclusivity have been rewarded with record results,” Sony’s chairman Tom Rothman said in a statement to press. “With apologies to Mr. Twain: The death of movies has been greatly exaggerated.”
Overseas, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” opened in Russia with $13.8 million. The film will bow in Latin America next week before landing in most major international markets.
“It reaffirms the importance of the theatrical widow,” says Sony’s president of domestic distribution Adrian Smith. Adds Sanford Panitch, president of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group: “We knew we had a really big movie and an excited fanbase. The marketplace comes out for the right movie.”
The supervillain sequel, starring Tom Hardy as the otherworldly lethal protector, blew past the pandemic-era benchmark set in July by “Black Widow,” which opened to $80 million in theaters. The Scarlett Johansson vehicle made an additional $60 million in its inaugural weekend on Disney Plus, where it was available to purchase on the same day as its theatrical debut. Next to those, “Shang-Chi” ($75 million) and Universal’s “Fast and Furious” sequel “F9” ($70 million) have landed the biggest pandemic opening weekends, with younger males fueling ticket sales. “Venom 2” continued that trend: 62% of ticket buyers were male and 55% were under the age of 25.