Venom Sinks Teeth Into $205M Global Bow; Sets Biggest October Debut WW – International Box Office
Refresh for latest…: Sony/Tencents Venom, based on the Marvel property, has sunk its teeth into a coursing $205.2M globally with the biggest opening in October history worldwide. The international box office portion of Venoms bite was $125.2M, coming in ahead of industry projections that had it around $110M. The Tom Hardy-starrer bowed in 58 offshore markets and was tops in 57. Overall, and in like-for-likes at todays rates, Venom bested the openings of Doctor Strange (+20%), Ant-Man And The Wasp (+32%) and Wonder Woman (+38%).
The five-day $16.4M bow of Venom in Korea, a discerning hero market, has already surpassed the lifetimes of Captain America: The First Avenger, Justice League, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman.
The other majors to release this frame include Russia at $13.6M to top the full runs of Ant-Man And The Wasp, The First Avenger, Justice League and Wonder Woman. In the UK, the Ruben Fleischer-helmed anit-hero pic was No. 1 with $10.5M to top the start of Ant-Man And The Wasp and Wonder Woman. Mexico scored the best Sony opening ever and the highest opening for a standalone superhero pic with a weekend total of $10.2M.
The films 32% score on Rotten Tomatoes didnt ultimately impact the opening at home or abroad. Sonys President of International Distribution, Steven ODell, tells me anecdotally that hes been hearing from overseas exhibitors that their kids were going to school in the Venom costume and that there was “a lot more love than people were aware of beyond (the core) fans. It went beyond other standalones and the ones with sequels.” But the true power of Venom became evident on Saturday morning with the numbers coming out of Asia. As with any superhero movie, there is a sort of frontloading here, but there is room ahead and the lightness of Hardys relationship to Venom provides a fresh spin. ODell calls it a “win for everyone involved.” France, Japan and China (the latter TBD) are still to come.
The other major opener this session is Warner Bros A Star Is Born. The Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga-starrer is rolling out on a staggered pattern and riding great word of mouth and reviews after it hit the stage at the Venice Film Festival in a late August world premiere. The weekend came in slightly lower than projections with $14M on 4,590 screens in 31 markets, but this is an adult-skewing picture that has much wider play ahead of it, as well as awards in the crosshairs and is expected to leg out over time.
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Sonys Venom lashed its way to several records this weekend, including the biggest October domestic debut and the same for worldwide. The global cume is a huge $205.2M with $125.2M from 20,800 screens internationally. It also set the top global IMAX October bow at $15.4M from 726 screens in 60 markets. Of that, overseas accounted for $7M to set the formats best international launch, as well as Sonys best ever in IMAX — surpassing Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Overall, the picture is tracking as one of the biggest launches ever for a standalone superhero film. To be sure, there is frontloading here and the movie is benefiting from a lack of blockbuster fare in recent weeks. It does have some clear play ahead, however.
Korea, a huge and discerning hero market, led all play with $16.4M over five days. That bests the lifetimes of Captain America: The First Avenger, Justice League, Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman.
Russia was also a win with $13.6M, beating the runs of Ant-Man And The Wasp, Captain America: The First Avenger, Justice League and Wonder Woman. The UK took No. 1 against the openings of Johnny English Strikes Again and A Star Is Born, to gross $10.5M. Thats a better opening than Ant-Man And The Wasp (+40%) and Wonder Woman (+11%).
Mexico delivered Sonys best opening ever in the market and tops for a standalone superhero with a weekend total of $10.2M. The comps it beat include Doctor Strange (+118%), Ant-Man And The Wasp (+77%), Logan (+72%) and Thor: Ragnarok (36%).
Australia debuted to $6.8M, beating the openings of Ant-Man And The Wasp (+64%), Doctor Strange (+49%), Wonder Woman (+41%) and Logan (+22%).
Germany also topped comps with $5.7M and Brazil opened to $5.1M to best The First Avenger (+86%), Ant-Man And The Wasp (+41%) and Doctor Strange (+9%). In the latter, its worth noting that today is a very significant election day.
Other notable openings include South East Asian markets — Taiwan ($4.2M), Malaysia ($3.3M), India ($2.7M), Hong Kong ($2.2M), Philippines ($1.9M) and Singapore ($1.8M). And, particularly in Europe, Italy bit for $4.4M and thats a tough market to crack.
Still to come are France, Japan and China.
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