‘Venom: The Last Dance’ hits $317m at global box office; ‘The Wild Robot’ sees powerful hold | News

Worldwide box office November 1-3

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

International gives strength to ‘Venom 3’

Success in international markets, and especially China, is proving key to the success of Columbia Pictures’ Venom: The Last Dance, which pushed past $300m on its second week of release, and has now reached $317.0m globally.

The Sony release – the third in the Venom series – grossed an estimated $26.1m in North America at the weekend, down 49%, and the total there is now $90.0m.

For international, Venom: The Last Dance grossed an estimated $68.4m, sinking 44% in holdover markets – a gentler fall than experienced by both Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage in their second sessions. International total is $227.0m.

China once again led the international pack with an estimated $14.5m. In cumulative totals, China leads with $70.6m, ahead of Mexico ($13.4m), UK/Ireland ($11.9m), South Korea ($9.4m) and Germany ($9.0m).

France was a fresh market for the film, delivering an estimated $6.5m for the five-day opening period (29% up on the Let There Be Carnage debut), and Japan launched with an estimated $3.8m.

Venom: The Last Dance is now 63% of the way to matching the $506.8m achieved globally by Let There Be Carnage in 2021, which did not achieve release in China, but grossed $32.4m in Russia/CIS. The original Venom grossed $856.1m worldwide in 2018.

‘The Wild Robot’ boosted by school holiday surge

Universal’s The Wild Robot enjoyed a powerful hold at the global box office, dropping by just 6% from the previous session.

In North America, the DreamWorks animation added an estimated $7.6m in its third weekend of play, up 11% on the second session. Total after 17 days is $121.5m.

For international, the drop was a faint 14%, boosted by school holidays in markets such as UK/Ireland. Estimated weekend takings of $15.8m take the international total to $147.7m. Globally, the total so far is $269.1m.

Strong holds were enjoyed in key markets UK/Ireland (+7%), Spain (+4%), Germany (+0%), Australia (-16%) and Mexico (-22%), as well as in midsize markets such as Netherlands (+47%), Belgium (+65%) and Chile (+93%).

In cumulative totals, Mexico (now in the sixth week of release) leads the international pack with $17.8m, ahead of UK/Ireland (in the third week of release) with $15.0m, France ($11.0m), Australia ($10.6m) and Spain ($7.9m).

In the early weeks of international release, Universal offered comparisons between The Wild Robot and its own The Bad Guys and Migration. DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys grossed $250.4m worldwide in 2022, and Illumination’s Migration reached $299.9m a year later. The Wild Robot has now overtaken The Bad Guys and will sail past Migration.

Universal will now be eyeing 20^th Century Fox’s Trolls, which reached $347.3m in 2016, as a suitable target. Universal’s Sing 2 ($408.4m worldwide in 2021) would be a step higher.

‘Terrifier 3’ beats ‘Smile 2’ in battle of horror sequels

The expansion of Terrifier 3 from 12 to 38 international markets – including Germany, Spain, Mexico and Brazil – saw a surge in box office for the horror sequel, which has risen from seventh place a week ago to fifth in Comscore’s worldwide weekend chart. The film grossed an estimated $12.3m for international plus $3.4m in North America via Cineverse, combining to deliver a $15.7m weekend total. Terrifier 3 has now reached $74.6m globally.

For comparison, Terrifier 2 reached $15.7m worldwide in 2022, and the first Terrifier film, from 2016, has been tracked at under $1m globally. All three films are written and directed by Damien Leone.

Paramount’s Smile 2 has slipped below Terrifier 3 in the worldwide weekend chart, with latest estimated takings of $15.5m. In cumulative, Parker Finn’s film has reached $109.8m – ahead of Terrifier 3.

UK/Ireland leads international markets in cumulative totals on Smile 2, with $7.1m to date. France is second with $6.1m, ahead of Germany ($5.1m) and then Italy and Australia (both $3.1m).

Mexico, usually a robust market for horror, has reached $2.6m with Smile 2, behind Spain ($2.9m). The first Smile film reached $8.5m lifetime in Mexico.

Smile 2 is now 51% of the way to matching the $217.4m lifetime total achieved by Smile in 2022 – a number that looks likely to elude its grasp.

India’s Diwali releases storm box office chart

Three fresh Indian films, released to coincide with the Diwali holiday, have landed in the latest worldwide box office chart – in third, fourth and seventh place.

Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again, the fifth instalment in the filmmaker’s Cop Universe franchise, and a direct sequel to 2014’s Singham Returns, leads the trio with estimated debut takings of $22.3m, including $2.1m in North America. Ajay Devgn stars as the titular cop, now the senior superintendent of Kashmir, who must confront an unidentified enemy to save his wife.

One place below Singham Again in the chart is Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, which debuts with $20.4m, including $2.1m in North America. Anees Bazmee’s comedy horror is a sequel to his own Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022), which was a belated sequel to Priyadarshan’s original Bhool Bhulaiyaa from 2007.

The third Indian film making the worldwide top 10 chart is Rajkumar Periasamy’s Tamil-language Amaran – starring Sivakarthikeyan as real-life military officer Major Mukund Varadarajan, who died leading a counter-terrorism operation in South Kashmir in 2014.

‘Juror #2’ makes international debut

A frail release by Warner Bros in North America for Juror #2 has deprived the film a spot in the worldwide top 10 chart. The Clint Eastwood drama opened in France, Spain and UK/Ireland with a combined estimate of $5.0m, led by France with $3.1m. Warner Bros did not report for North America, but the total has been estimated at $260,000 to $275,000 from 35 sites – yielding a robust average.

Juror #2 lands in Italy on November 14 and Germany on January 2. Nicholas Hoult stars as a juror in a high-profile murder trial struggling with a moral dilemma.