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411 Box Office Report: Venom Spends Second Weekend at #1, First Man Starts Mild

October 14, 2018 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Venom Image Credit: Sony Pictures

Venom followed up its strong opening weekend with a solid hold, claiming the top spot at the box office this weekend. Sony’s super-antihero film brought in $35.7 million to hold onto the top spot. That’s a drop of 55% from last weekend, which is very solid especially when you consider the $80.3 million overperformance from the film’s first weekend. It’s better than the 60% hold for Captain America: Civil War and — more signficantly — better than The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s 62% fall in 2012.

No matter how you slice it, this is a win for Sony. As of now, the film stands at $142.8 million domestically and $378.1 million worldwide, already putting it close to the realm of potential profitability. Even with some major competition for its target audience, Venom is aiming for a post-$200 million final domestic gross.

Also holding on strong in its second weekend was A Star Is Born. The Bradly Cooper-directed film scored $28 million, down just 35% from its opening weekend total. That’s a very good number for the film, which is looking to maintain its lifespan at the box office as Hollywood preps for award season in the next couple of months. The remake now stands at $94.2 million domestically and $135.4 million worldwide, making it an already-profitable film for Warner Bros. on its $32 million budget (and, admittedly, heavier than normal marketing costs). A Star Is Born will very likely cross the $200 million mark domestically before it’s completely gone from theaters.

Opening at #3 was the Ryan Gosling-led Neil Armostrong biopic First Man. The drama about the first trip to the moon brought in $16.5 million, coming in a minor amount under the expected $20 million opening. Blame A Star Is Born’s strength for this underperformance. Critics have generally loved it (it sits at a 88% on Rotten Tomatoes), but like Star it is trying to make the long haul into awards season so they were competing for the same crowd.

First Man’s most problematic stat is its reception among fans; it scored a B+ CinemaScore. Now, that’s a very good grade, but again this is a film that is hoping to become an awards season contender. When the expectations are that high, you want to be in the A- to A+ range. First Man has just begun its rollout overseas with $8.6 million in twenty-two markets, most of them not major, for a $25.1 million worldwide start. In the US it should leg out to the $70 million to $75 million range, with the expensive marketing campaign making this reliant on overseas grosses considering the $59 million production budget.

Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween opened without Jack Black to be the draw that the first film was, and it was predictably below that film with $16.2 million. However, that’s not a terrible number. The family-friendly Halloween film started lower than the first film’s $23.6 million start, but also had a lower budget at $35 million.

Critics are much less taken with this film than the original (44% on RT) and audiences are too (B CinemaScore vs. A for the first). But with low expenditures — including a moderately low marketing cost — this one might be okay. The film added $3.7 million overseas for a $19.9 million worldwide start. It should be able to rack up at least $45 million domestically, with the international numbers expanding in the coming weeks and making this slightly profitable against its budget.

Smallfoot didn’t feel much of a hit from Goosebumps and was down just 35% from last weekend with $9.3 million. The animated film is up to $57.6 million domestically and $110.2 million worldwide, which puts it on track for a possible profit against an $80 million budget. In the US, it should end at about $80 million to $85 million.

Night School stabilized after last week’s heavy fall, off just 36% in its third weekend with $8 million. The comedy is currently up to $59.8 million in the US and $75.2 million worldwide. It should end its run here at around $75 million, making it profitable against a $29 million budget plus marketing.

Drew Goddard’s Bad Times at the El Royale was never going to be a blockbuster, and it proved that in its opening weekend numbers. The lengthy neo-noir ensemble film opened to $7.2 million. That’s more or less where mosty yexpected it to be. While critics have generally liked this oddball film (75% on RT), audiences were more polarized with a B- CinemaScore. That’s expected, as this isn’t exactly a mainstream-style film. But the name power enough will help push it to profit, at least overseas where Chris Hemsworth has good retruns in general on his Thor fame. The film is currently at $11.3 million worldwide against a $32 million budget. In the US, it should finish at around $25 million.

The House With A Clock In Its Walls was down 46% in its fourth weekend, dinged by Goosebumps, to $4 million. The fantasy film has a total thus far of $62.3 million domestically and $101.9 million worldwide, and looks to be moderately profitable on its $42 million budget. In the US, $75 million seems to still be likely.

Leaping into the top ten with a limited expansion was The Hate U Give. The novel adaptation rode a strong wave of critical buzz (97% on RT) to mark $1.8 million, a pretty good number considering it is in just 248 theaters. Fox will expand this next weekend into wide release, but we won’t be able to guess at box office until then. The budget isn’t yet known.

Paul Feig’s A Simple Favor closed out the top ten with 1.4 million, down 60% in its fifth weekend to $3.4 million. The Anna Kendrick/Blake Lively-starring film has a total of $52 million domestically and $83 million worldwide against a $20 million budget. The final domestic tally should be about $60 million or so.

Next weekend, it’s going to be all about Michael Myers. Halloween is opening big, and is expected to nail down around $60 million to $65. The Hate U Give will also go into full wide expansion.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Venom – $35.7 million ($142.8 million total)
2. A Star Is Born – $28 million ($94.2 million total)
3. First Man – $16.5 million ($16.5 million total)
4. Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween – $16.2 million ($16.2 million total)
5. Smallfoot – $9.3 million ($57.6 million total)
6. Night School – $8 million ($59.8 million total)
7. Bad Times at the El Royale – $7.2 million ($7.2 million total)
8. The House With a Clock in Its Walls – $4 million ($62.3 million total)
9. The Hate U Give – $1.8 million ($2.5 million total)
10. A Simple Favor – $1.4 million ($52 million total)