The busy box office month of October begins this weekend with Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Due to whacky rescheduling because of the pandemic, October is stacked with releases that include this film, No Time To Die, Halloween Kills, and Dune and the Venom 2 opening weekend will the first to test the waters to see if the box office has become healthy enough to sustain the arrival of another tentpole release.
While Sony is estimating a $40 million start for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, tracking and leading exhibitors, per “Deadline“, have the film debuting in the $60 Million+ range this weekend. While that would be down from Venom’s 2018 record-breaking October debut of $80.2 million (a record it would relinquish a year later to Joker), it would still be a solid start as the box office hasn’t 100% stabilized in the wake of the pandemic.
There is an air of confidence in regards to the release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Reactions from various fan screenings were extremely positive with the target demo really responding to the sequel. The target demographic was key to the first film’s success which defied the odds of a 30% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B+” CinemaScore to leg it out to $213.5 domestically and a staggering $856 million worldwide. This was all done on a reported $100 million budget and while budget information hasn’t been released for the sequel, most insiders believe the budget is in the same range as its predecessor.
As of this writing, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is actually fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 75%. I suspect this will dwindle a bit throughout the weekend but, at this point, it’s in a much better position critically than the 2018 film. The train of thought here seems to be if you liked the first film, you’ll like the sequel. This could be the very definition of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Fans seemed to respond to the first movie and there is no indication that it won’t happen the second time around. Legs will be interesting to watch since it loses its Imax screens to No Time To Die next weekend but it’s possible that there will be room for all of the October releases during a very unique time at the box office.
How well do YOU think Venom 2 will do this opening weekend?