Foreign markets boost ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ to $175m global opening – but film pliable in North America | News

Worldwide box office October 18-20

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

International provides massive lifting for ‘Venom 3’

A sturdy international performance for Columbia Pictures’ Venom: The Last Dance helped compensate for a sub-par performance in the domestic home market. The Sony release debuted with an estimated $124.0m in the 64 international opening markets, plus $51.0m in North America. Those numbers combine to give a $175.0m launch.

In October 2021, Venom: Let There Be Carnage – the second film in the series – began with $90.0m in North America, on its way to a $213.6m domestic total.

International comparisons are difficult to frame, since Let There Be Carnage opened initially just in Russia/CIS, expanding a week later to Latin America, and then to Europe, Middle East and Asia. The second Venom film ultimately achieved $293.3m lifetime across its international markets.

China is a gigantic part of the international success story this time around, leading with an estimated $46.0m over five days (October 23-27). The first Venom was a gigantic hit in China, grossing $269.2m lifetime there, but Sony was unable to secure a Chinese release for Let There Be Carnage.

Mexico is the runner-up international market for Venom: The Last Dance, with an estimated $7.3m. Next come South Korea ($5.8 m), UK/Ireland ($5.7m), India ($4.7m), Germany ($4.1m), Italy ($3.4m), Australia ($3.2m), Spain ($2.7m) and Indonesia ($2.7m).

This coming week sees the film land in key markets France and Japan, plus also Moldova.

Venom: The Last Dance is chasing the $506.8m achieved globally by Let There Be Carnage. The second Venom film grossed $32.4m in Russia/CIS, which will not be part of the package this time around, but release in China has already more than compensated for the Russian box office loss.

The original Venom grossed $856.1m worldwide in 2018, boosted by powerful performances in China, Russia/CIS, South Korea, UK/Ireland, Mexico and France.

The Last Dance is the fifth film in Sony’s so-called Spider-Man Universe franchise, which includes the earlier two Venom films plus Morbius and Madame Web. Both of the latter titles were box office disappointments, respectively grossing $167.5m and $100.5m globally.

Venom: The Last Dance is written and directed by Kelly Marcel from a story she co-conceived with star Tom Hardy. Marcel co-wrote Venom and wrote the sequel (from a story by Marcel and Hardy), but she did not direct either film.

‘The Wild Robot’ beats ‘Smile 2’ for second place at global box office

UPDATE: Universal’s The Wild Robot has held firm in second place at the worldwide box office, as Paramount’s Smile 2 slides from the top spot to third position.

The DreamWorks animation delivered a confirmed $18.1m across 79 international markets at the weekend, dropping a gentle 25% in holdover territories. For North America, the weekend take is $6.8m – down 33%.

Globally, The Wild Robot grossed $24.9m at the weekend. Totals to date are $121.5m for international and $111.7m in North America – combining to deliver $233.1m worldwide.

The Wild Robot now ranks 15th at the global box office among 2024 releases. Of the 14 films above it in the chart, all are sequels except It Ends With Us (adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel) and The Garfield Movie (a franchise reboot).

School holidays are giving buoyancy to The Wild Robot in several markets, including France where box office for the film rose 49%.

In cumulative totals, Mexico leads the international pack with $15.9m, ahead of Australia ($10.3m after almost six weeks of play), UK/Ireland ($8.3m), France ($8.3m) and Spain ($6.1m).

Smile 2 is enjoying weaker traction – as might be expected with a horror sequel. Paramount’s film grossed an estimated $9.4m in North America at the weekend (falling 59%) and $12.6m across 67 international markets (a 42% drop).

Totals after two weekends of play are $40.7m in North America, $43.0m for international, and thus $83.7m worldwide.

UK/Ireland leads international markets in cumulative totals, with $5.2m to date. France is second with $4.5m, ahead of Germany ($3.6m) and then Italy and Australia (both $2.4m).

Smile 2 is chasing the sturdy $217.4m lifetime total achieved by Smile in 2022 – $105.9m in North America and $111.5m for international.

‘Conclave’ lands in worldwide chart

An estimated $6.5m for Focus Features’ Conclave in North America was enough to earn the film sixth place in Comscore’s worldwide box office chart. Directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet On The Western Front), the Telluride-launched film is adapted from a book by Robert Harris, and stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal in the Vatican overseeing the election of a fresh Pope.

Conclave begins its international rollout this coming week, and gathers steam throughout November.

Conclave was eclipsed at the worldwide box office at the weekend by both Midi Z’s drama mystery The Unseen Sister (launching in China with $9.7m) and Gilles Lellouche’s French hit Beating Hearts (aka L’Amour Ouf). The latter grossed an estimated $7.1m in France for its second session (up from $5.3m for the opening period), bringing the total after 12 days of release to $16.4m.

A24’s We Live In Time makes the worldwide top 10 chart for the first time, boosted by an expansion of cinemas in North America. John Crowley’s romantic drama grossed an estimated $4.8m at the weekend in North America, plus $113,000 across a handful of international markets. Global total is $12.4m.

Football biopic sets opening record in Bulgaria

Box office is soaring in Bulgaria thanks to the release of sports biopic Gundi – Legend Of Love, celebrating the life of Bulgarian football player Georgi Asparuhov (nicknamed Gundi). The Levski Sofia, Benefica and Bulgarian national team player died in a car crash in 1971 at the age of 28.

Gundi – Legend Of Love opened in Bulgaria on October 18 with €726,000 ($784,000) from 161 screens – setting a box office record for the biggest opening weekend ever in the country.

The previous top-grossing Bulgarian film, Mission London, opened in 2010 with €182,000.

The previous top openings for non-Bulgarian films were for Fast & Furious 10, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avatar 2: The Way Of Water – all launching in Bulgaria in the range of €530,000 to €570,000.

Gundi – Legend Of Love is directed by Dimitar Dimitrov, and stars Pavel Ivanov (TV comedy series Dads) in the title role.