Box-Office Soars Due To Venom & 007

With “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” releasing in the United States this weekend and the new Bond film “No Time To Die” hitting the UK and much of Europe, the global box-office is taking off.

First up the “Venom” sequel is surpassing all expectations following its $37.25 million haul on Friday (including Thursday previews) domestically.

Sony had been estimating around $40 million for the weekend while others were expecting anywhere between $50-65 million. Now it’s expected Sony will raise its conservative estimates to well over $70 million with third parties indicating the film is on track for a potential $90 million debut.

Also domestically “The Addams Family 2” and came in second with the film estimated to make $16 million in its opening weekend following a $5.5 million Friday haul. In third is “Shang-Chi” which keeps powering on and will cross the $200 million total domestic gross this weekend.

Not faring so well was “The Sopranos” prequel film “The Many Saints of Newark” which is tracking for a $5.3 million debut weekend. Also not faring well was “Dear Evan Hansen” which is headed for a dismal $2.4 million second weekend haul.

Internationally, all eyes are on Bond as the decision to delay nearly two years to ensure a theatrical run has paid off. The film grossed $27.2 million across 54 markets on Friday to a total so far of $51.4 million. Industry projections have it snagging a weekend total of $112.9 million – the biggest global box office debut of the pandemic era sans China.

In the UK, where the film is getting the widest release in U.K. box office history, it’s expected to gross $30 million in the single territory over the weekend – beating “Skyfall” back in 2012 and becoming the biggest film of the pandemic in just four days of release.

Both “Venom” and Bond are theatrical exclusive runs worldwide.

Source: Variety