Venom: Let There Be Carnage debuted to a fantastic $90 million this weekend, which becomes the biggest opening gross for both 2020 and 2021, topping Black Widow‘s $80.4M in July. This also tops the original Venom‘s $80.3M on the same weekend three years ago, which was the all time opening record at the time. This creates a new high bar for the pandemic era, and it’s a very welcome development indeed.

Venom 2‘s opening gross is now the 2nd highest October debut of ALL TIME, behind only mega blockbuster Joker from 2019, which got off to a $96.2M start. This is a great sign for the domestic box office, as this opening would have made Sony and the entire industry excited under the best of circumstances, much less during the (hopefully tail end of) pandemic. Most of us box office nerds expected for this sequel to make less than the first Venom even in “normal” times because that film received a very mixed reception (30% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, but a B+ CinemaScore from audiences). Venom 2 also received a B+ CinemaScore, but earned a significantly better 59% from critics (86% from verified audiences). This, alongside the addition of beloved comic villain Carnage and a buzzy post credit scene, resulted in a marvelous (get over it) opening weekend.

There’s no way around it. This one is a smash success out of the gate. The only issue is that it will face stiff (shaken not stirred) competition from No Time To Die next weekend. Craig’s last outing as Bond is off to a hot start in several countries overseas (estimates point to $100M and the best U.K. opening of the pandemic) and will most assuredly rake in the bucks next weekend. It’s a very exciting time at the domestic box office, as Shang-Chi delivered the highest all time September opening weekend last month ($75.3M) and has gone on to become the firs $200M+ grosser of the pandemic era. With loads of new films incoming, we’re off to the races now.

Published by Seth Dayrich

Founder of WSYS and writer of two motion pictures (Catching Summer, Dan's Humongous Apartment) and a play (The Restaurant Tango). View all posts by Seth Dayrich