Venom dances on, again leading North America box office
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English actor Tom Hardy in Venom: The Last Dance, which topped the recent North American box office.
PHOTO: SONY PICTURES
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LOS ANGELES – Venom: The Last Dance, starring English actor Tom Hardy as the titular anti-hero, held tight to the top spot in North American theatres with an estimated weekend haul of US$26.1 million (S$34.4 million), industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Nov 3.
Though it had a weaker opening than either of its two Venom predecessors released in 2018 and 2021, it has grossed a respectable US$90 million domestically and US$227 million internationally since its release on Oct 25.
Meanwhile, the Universal and DreamWorks Animation film The Wild Robot, a family-friendly yarn about a mechanical creature having to share a remote island with fuzzy animals, rose in its sixth weekend out, gaining two spots to second place while taking in US$7.6 million.
Paramount’s horror film Smile 2, with English actress Naomi Scott playing a pop star afflicted by a grim curse, slipped slightly to third, with ticket sales estimated at US$6.8 million for the post-Halloween Friday-through-Sunday period.
Also down one spot, to fourth place, was religious thriller Conclave from FilmNation, at US$5.3 million. English actor Ralph Fiennes, playing a cardinal called on to “manage” the election of a new pope, finds himself caught in a web of unseemly ambition and shadowy intrigue that has drawn Oscar buzz.
But a much-talked-about new film from Miramax and Sony, fantasy drama Here from Forrest Gump (1994) director Robert Zemeckis, performed below analysts’ expectations, placing fifth with just US$5 million.
It uses AI technology to “de-age” actors Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, as part of an ambitious epic, set in a single location, that spans from the dinosaur age to the present.
That was “a weak opening for an original drama”, said Mr David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.
“To work, this kind of story needs to connect emotionally and powerfully,” he said, adding that critics’ reviews and audiences’ reactions show that this film does not.
With a production budget of close to US$50 million, the film “release will end in red ink”, he said. AFP
