Overall, I thought director Ruben Fleischer's VENOM (available for purchase HERE) was a pretty odd way to bring the titular Marvel Comics character to the big screen, but neither the film's surprisingly goofy tone nor the fact that it completely drops Venom's connection to Spider-Man seemed to hurt it at the box office. VENOM made over $850 million at the global box office. With that sort of haul, a sequel was inevitable, especially since one was already set up with a mid-credits sequence.
Sony is now moving forward with VENOM 2 and screenwriter Kelly Marcel has signed a "significant" deal to write the script and serve as executive producer on the film. Marcel was also an executive producer on the first VENOM, which she co-wrote with Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg.
Tom Hardy will be reprising the role of Eddie Brock / Venom in the sequel, and is likely to be joined by Michelle Williams as Eddie's wife Anne Weying and Woody Harrelson as serial killer Cletus Kasady, who becomes the symbiote-coated creature Carnage.
Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Amy Pascal will be producing VENOM 2, but it's not clear whether or not Ruben Fleischer will be directing the film. VENOM 2 is believed to be aiming for an October 2, 2020 release, and Fleischer might be too busy getting a sequel to his film ZOMBIELAND ready for its October 2019 release to focus on preparing for a VENOM sequel.