Sony’s Spider-Verse debut is (thus far) leggier than the last few “opened on a Friday” ‘Spider-Man’ movies.
‘Venom’ Sony
Sony’s Venom was the top movie of the weekend yet again, and it wasn’t even close. Thanks to kid-powered matinees, the Tom Hardy/Michelle Williams flick earned $34 million (-55%) in its second Fri-Sun frame, bringing its ten-day domestic total up to $141m. That second-weekend hold is actually better than the last three “opened on a Friday” Spider-Man movies ( Spider-Man 3, Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming) and is about on par with Logan ’s 56% second-weekend drop. It’s even slightly better than Annabelle ’s 56% second-weekend drop. Point being, this ain’t an Annabelle / Insidious Chapter 2 (or Batman v Superman)-style one-weekend wonder.
If Venom opened last weekend like a lower-tier MCU movie, it held about as well as a conventional MCU flick. No, it’s not going to have legs like Guardians of the Galaxy, but it will still be the only PG-13, kid-targeted live-action biggie at least until Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald on Nov. 16. So, yes, alongside a flurry of adult movies and R-rated genre fare, Sony was correct to go with a PG-13 rating. If it merely holds like Logan from this point, then Ruben Fleischer’s Spider-Verse movie will end with $207m domestic.
If it really sticks around, think Spider-Man: Homecoming or Ant-Man and the Wasp (both of which recovered after big second-weekend drops), then the $100 million-budgeted superhero origin story will end its domestic run with $226m-$229m. Oh, and it has earned $379m worldwide thus far. At a glance, even sans China, we may be looking at a $650m-$700m total. Yes, this is great news for Sony (which passed $1 billion domestic for the year), as it shows that there was/ is interested in a Venom movie and that there may be interest in other solo flicks based upon Spider-Man villains.
Part of the reason Venom is resonating beyond just the hardcore fanbase is due to how comparatively unassuming it is. Yes, it’s a comic book superhero movie, but it’s small-scale and unapologetically goofy, eschewing the worldbuilding, political commentary and gravitas that has defined the genre at least since Iron Man and The Dark Knight. Its core entertainment value is rooted in Tom Hardy’s wacky star turn, one which is just as amusing with or without special effects enhancements. As a gonzo character in the middle of a straightforward superhero tale, he essentially turns Venom into a Groundlings sketch.
Yes, in a skewed way, Venom is working with the public because it evokes nostalgia for a time when comic book superhero movies were A) generally quite bad and B) not the dominant form of Hollywood tentpole. Venom indeed evokes nostalgia for a time when a movie like Venom and a movie like A Star Is Born could succeed concurrently, without the superhero movie sucking all of the oxygen out of the room. I’m curious to see how Sony reacts to this success, specifically in terms of shaping their next Spider-Verse movies, but that’s for another day.
I’ve studied the film industry, both academically and informally, and with an emphasis in box office analysis, for 28 years. I have extensively written about all of said subjects for the last ten years. My outlets for film criticism, box office commentary, and film-skewing s…
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