411 Box Office Report: Venom: The Last Dance Holds Well To Repeat At #1, Here Falls Short

Venom: The Last Dance showed some resilience in its second weekend, holding on well to win the weekend. The third entry in Sony’s Venom trilogy scored $26.1 million this weekend for the top spot, down just 49% from its opening weekend take. That’s a strong hold for a superhero film and the beats the second weekend drops of both Venom (56%) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (65%).

In complete fairness, it should be noted that The Last Dance had a shorter perch to fall from than the other two films. However, the same can’t be said for the other Sony Spider-Man Universe live-action films, which The Last Dance also beat. Despite many viewing the opening domestic weekend of Last Dance as a failure, the film is already moving toward an easy profit as it has $90 million domestically and $317 million worldwide against a $120 million budget.

As it stands without any real competition until Red One arrives in two weeks, The Last Dance is extremely well positioned and should be able to close out its domestic run at $140 million or so, a perfectly fine number considering the strength of its overseas revenue.

The Wild Robot saw its fortunes rise this weekend as it actually jumped 11% to $7.6 million from last weekend’s total. The Universal Pictures animated film is a smash hit for the studio with $121.5 million domestically and $269.1 against a $75 million production budget, and a domestic total now charting around $140 million.

Smile 2 also held on well, as the horror sequel dropped 29% in its third frame to take in $6.8 million. The well-received film is now a nicely profitable venture for Paramount with $52.7 million domestically and $109.8 million worldwide, very good considering the $28 million budget. It should be able to get itself to $65 million or more, which the studio will be perfectly fine with.

Conclave is showing legs, with Focus Features’ religious thriller off a mere 20% in its second weekend. The Ralph Fiennes-starring film tallied $5.3 million thanks to its critical buzz and strong word of mouth. It should be noted that the film is unlikely to be profitable in theaters, as it now has $15.2 million against a $20 million budget, but it will do well enough that the eventual overseas rollout will put it in the black. The domestic total is likely to be somewhere around $25 million.

While Sony is happy with Venom, it’s less pleased with its new release as Robert Zemeckis’ Here flopped. The generation-spanning drama starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright launched with $5 million. That’s a weak start even considering expectations were low coming into the weekend at a high single digits level. It reps Hanks’ lowest box office start since News Of the World opened amid a COVID surge in December of 2020, and is the second financial failure in a row for Zemeckis after Welcome to Marwen stumbled in December of 2018.

This one was always going to be a gamble by Sony, being a melodrama opening in early November with a $50 million budget. Perhaps they were hoping for critical acclaim to carry it into the holiday season, but that did not materialize to say the least. Critics passed on it with a 36% aggregated Rotten Tomatoes average, and moviegoers were not impressed with a 57% RT audience rating and a B- CinemaScore (a fine score for horror, not good for dramas).

The flat buzz and poor word of mouth means that this one will mercifully drop off quickly and is likely to get a digital release very soon. As it stands, the film is unlikely to get much past $12 million domestically.

We Live in Time continued the run of holdover strength in the face of no solid new releases, down 28% in its third weekend with $3.5 million. The romantic drama has tallied up $17.7 million stateside and $18.3 million worldwide. Still no word on the A24 film’s budget, but it should end its run at around $25 million.

Terrifier 3 was down 32% in its fourth weekend as it crossed a milestone, grossing $3.2 million to cross the $50 million US mark. The film has a total of $50.5 million domestically and $58.4 million worldwide, making it hugely profitable for CineVerse against a $2 million budget. The film is looking at over around $55 million domestically without breaking a bloody sweat.

Indian genre films filled the next two spots, starting with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 which took in $2.2 million. The third film in the horror comedy franchise came in on the back of spooky season and was able to score solid enough marks (60% aggregated critic score on RT, 67% audience rating) to satisfy fans. The film has totaled $13.5 million worldwide thus far and will be profitable for AA Films.

Coming in just under Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 by less than a rounding point, action sequel Singham Again took in $2.2 million. The fifth entry into director Rohit Shetty’s Cop Universe franchise has $15.7 million worldwide. The budget on this one was hefty at around $40 million or so, but it should bear out fairly well considering it has a lucrative digital streaming deal already secured with Prime Video.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice closed out the top 10 with $2.1 million, which is down 33% in its nineth weekend. The supernatural comedy has $292.1 million domestically and $445.2 million worldwide, very profitable against a $100 million budget. $295 million is still the endgame here.

Venom: The Last Dance should repeat barring a surprisingly strong result from the two main newcomers. A24’s horror film Heretic and Lionsgate’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever are both looking at around $10 million, while anime film OVERLORD: The Sacred Kingdom should be in the low to mid-single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Venom: The Last Dance – $26.1 million ($90 million total, $317 million WW)
2. The Wild Robot – $7.6 million ($121.5 million total, $269.1 million WW)
3. Smile 2 – $6.8 million ($52.7 million total, $109.8 million WW)
4. Conclave – $5.3 million ($15.2 million total, $15.2 million WW)
5. Here – $5 million ($5 million total, $5 million WW)
6. We Live In Time – $4.8 million ($17.7 million total, $18.3 million WW)
7. Terrifier 3 – $4.8 million ($50.5 million total, $58.4 million WW)
8. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 – $2.2 million ($2.2 million total, $13.5 million total)
9. Singham Again – $2.2 million ($2.2 million total, $15.7 million total)
10. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – $3.2 million ($292.1 million total, $445.2 million WW)