In a sluggish fall for moviegoers, “Venom: The Last Dance” has managed to dominate the North American box office for three consecutive weeks, despite not being a blockbuster. The superhero sequel raked in $16.2 million in ticket sales across U.S. and Canadian theaters this past weekend, maintaining its top spot and fending off competitors such as the Hugh Grant horror thriller “Heretic” and the feel-good holiday film “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.”
The quiet on new releases from major studios, likely due to the upcoming Tuesday election, has worked in favor of Sony Pictures’ “Venom: The Last Dance.” The third installment of the Tom Hardy-led franchise may not have made a huge splash domestically, opening below expectations in late October, but its international performance tells a different story. The film has grossed $279.4 million abroad, nearly tripling its North American earnings and bringing its global total to $394.2 million.
Newcomers “Heretic” and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” were in a tight race for second place. “Heretic” claimed the spot with $11 million from Friday to Sunday, just edging out “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” which factored in $2.2 million from sneak-peek screenings last weekend to report an $11.1 million opening gross.
A24’s “Heretic,” directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, stars Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East as Mormon missionaries encountering a sinister man, played by Hugh Grant. Despite critical acclaim for Grant’s dark performance, audiences were less enthused, giving “Heretic” a “C+” CinemaScore. However, with a budget under $10 million, the film is expected to be profitable.
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” distributed by Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company, focuses on six unruly siblings who take charge of the local church pageant. This adaptation of Barbara Robinson’s 1972 children’s book, directed by Dallas Jenkins, has been popular with viewers, earning an “A” CinemaScore. Like “Heretic,” it also had a modest budget of about $10 million.
Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” continues to perform well in theaters, capturing fourth place with $6.6 million, boosting its domestic total to $130.2 million and its worldwide gross to $292 million in its seventh week.
Sean Baker’s “Anora,” an acclaimed film featuring Mikey Madison as a Brooklyn sex worker, went into wide release, collecting $2.4 million from 1,104 theaters. Its total earnings over four weeks now stand at $7.2 million.
Focus Features’ “Conclave,” a papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, remains strong for an adult-oriented drama. In its third weekend, the film added 487 theaters and saw only a modest 19% drop to earn $4.1 million. Its total stands at $21.5 million. Similarly, A24’s “We Live in Time,” featuring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, has grossed $2.2 million in its fifth weekend, totaling $21.8 million.
Overall, box office performance remains sluggish, running about 11% behind last year, according to Comscore. In the past two weeks, ticket sales have been down approximately 50% from the pre-pandemic average, per David A. Gross, a film consultant from Franchise Entertainment.
The outlook for theaters is brighter, however, with several big releases on the horizon. Upcoming films include Amazon MGM’s Christmas comedy “Red One” on November 15, Paramount Pictures’ “Gladiator II” on November 22, and Universal’s “Wicked” as well as Walt Disney Co.’s “Moana 2,” both also on November 22.
“Better late than never is the rule of the day, and we can expect some positive success stories coming out of the Thanksgiving corridor, which looks to be on par with some of the biggest such frames over the past many years,” remarked Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.
“Red One,” featuring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, debuted in 75 overseas markets, earning $26.6 million ahead of its U.S. release. The film’s production budget is around $250 million.
Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated weekend ticket sales for Friday through Sunday across U.S. and Canadian theaters, as reported by Comscore, are as follows:
- “Venom: The Last Dance,” $16.2 million.
- “Heretic,” $11 million.
- “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” $8.9 million.
- “The Wild Robot,” $6.7 million.
- “Smile 2,” $5 million.
- “Conclave,” $4.1 million.
- “Anora,” $2.5 million.
- “Here,” $2.4 million.
- “We Live in Time,” $2.2 million.
- “Terrifier 3,” $1.4 million.
