When reaching pre-pandemic levels, “Venom” will debut for $ 90.1M | WGN Radio 720

New York (AP) — Watching a pandemic movie is finally beginning to look like watching a pre-pandemic movie. Sony Pictures’ Marvel sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” blows away expectations of debuting with a $ 90.1 million ticket sale and will be the best pandemic opening, according to Sunday studio estimates. ..

“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” was predicted to open in nearly half of that. But the movie, which is shown exclusively in theaters, surpassed even its original debut in 2018. Venom, a branch of Spider-Man that introduced Tom Hardy’s parasitic alien symbiote, went on sale for $ 80.3 million. Only the 2019 Joker ($ 96.2 million) opened significantly in October.

The result was the best news for cinemas in over 18 months, with strong international sales of the James Bond movie No Time to Die.

“I apologize to Mr. Twain. The death of the film is very exaggerated,” Tom Rothman, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Pictures’ film group, said in a statement.

“Let There Be Carnage” and MGM’s “007 / No Time to Die” were originally scheduled to open last year. Both studios (neither have a major streaming platform) held up for better movie viewing conditions, believing that the highest box office revenue would come from an exclusive release in the theater. During the weekend, their wait was rewarded.

No Time to Die, which opens in North America on Friday, was launched in 54 overseas markets for $ 119.1 million. According to MGM and Universal Pictures (which has many international rights), the pace was pretty much in line with the opening of “Skyfall.” Following last week’s London premiere, “No Time to Die” (the 25th Bond movie and Daniel Craig’s last outing as a superspy) earned $ 25.6 million in the UK and Ireland. raised. Saturday’s $ 11.4 million was the highest box office revenue for a Bond movie at home.

Prior to “Let There Be Carnage,” the top pandemic openings were Walt Disney’s “Black Widow” ($ 80 million), “The Legend of Xiangqi and Tenling” ($ 75 million), and Universal Pictures’ “Fast & Furious.” The sequel to “F9” ($ 70 million). “Black Widow” was launched at home at the same time, prompting a proceeding from Star Scarlett Johansson, which was settled last week. “Shang Chi,” “F9,” and “Let There Be Carnage” made their debut only in theaters.

Josh Greenstein, president of Sony Motion Pictures Group, said: “You can’t duplicate it yourself at home.”

After many delays, Sony finally pushed the release of the sequel to “Venom,” directed by Andy Serkis and co-starring Woody Harrelson as the genocide of Venom’s enemies, two weeks ahead of schedule.

Adrian Smith, Sony’s head of distribution, said: “It is very reasonable to see the demand for theatrical performance.”

Not everything is quickly bouncing back in theaters and as a Marvel movie or the biggest brand name. Family-friendly movies, like ticket sales at art house theaters, remain sluggish. Older audiences and families with unvaccinated children are becoming more cautious.

Despite terrible reviews from critics (27% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), the sequel to the animation by MGM and United Artists Release, The Addams Family 2, started at $ 18 million. The sequel to the 2019 cartoon restart, the movie was released simultaneously on Video on Demand.

The long-awaited first part of “The Sopranos”, “Saint of Newark” was a flop. Co-authored by The Sopranos creator David Chase and set decades before the ingenious HBO series, the film began at $ 5 million. The movie, like all Warner Bros. released in 2021, was streamed on HBO Max for subscribers. This is a practice criticized by some filmmakers, including Chase. The studio promised to return to the theater windows in 2022.

Julia Duklnau’s “Titanium,” which won the Palme d’Or at this summer’s Cannes Film Festival, also struggled to make a dent in the theater. The film is a wild odyssey about a serial killer woman with a unique bond with the car, making about $ 516,000 in neon 562 theaters.

However, watching spectacle movies, especially those that appeal most to young men, is driving an even greater share of movie watching this year. Marvel’s “Xiangqi,” the studio’s first movie led by an Asian superhero, went mainstream in the theater last month. It was the No. 1 movie for four weeks in a row. This weekend, “Xiangqi” was the first movie to pass $ 200 million domestically, showing a cumulative total of $ 206.1 million in the United States and Canada and $ 386.9 million worldwide.

Large format screens also help accelerate recovery. IMAX has worldwide sales of $ 30 million, the highest ever on the October weekend. Megan Colligan, president of IMAX Entertainment, calls this proof of “making today’s box office.”

“These films may be perceived as performing too well, but in reality, many people underestimate how excited consumers around the world are to return to the film. . “

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Follow AP film writer Jakecoil on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP



When reaching pre-pandemic levels, “Venom” will debut for $ 90.1M | WGN Radio 720

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