Box Office: ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ Races Past $100M Domestically

Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage crossed the $100 million mark on Tuesday at the North American box office in another win for Sony and director Andy Serkis.

The sequel achieved the feat in five days to finish Tuesday with a domestic total of $102.1 million.

Venom 2 scored a massive victory for the film industry when launching last weekend to $90 million, the biggest three-day opening of the pandemic era. It is also the first sequel during COVID-19 to exceed the opening of the preceding film.

In 2018, Venom started off with $80.2 million domestically and crossed $100 million on its sixth day.

Venom 2, made by Sony and Marvel Studios in association with Tencent, came in $25 million to $30 million ahead of expectations, which is good news for James Bond installment No Time to Die, which officially rolls out in theaters across North America later this week.

“With apologies to Mr. Twain: The death of movies has been greatly exaggerated,” Sony film chief Tom Rothman said when commenting on Venom 2‘s opening take.

Andy Serkis directs the Tom Hardy-starring Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The film co-stars Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Reid Scott and Naomie Harris, the latter as the comic book villain Shriek.

In August, Sony pushed Venom 2 from Sept. 24 to Oct. 15 amid uncertainty over moviegoing and the delta variant. But when Disney and Marvel’s Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings did so well over the long Labor Day weekend, Sony relocated Venom 2 to Oct. 1.

Throughout the pandemic, Sony has otherwise been cautious on the theatrical front. Since the studio doesn’t yet have its own streaming service, it opted instead to license some movies to other streamers. The most recent example is Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania, which Amazon Studios picked up in recent weeks. On Wednesday, Amazon said it will release the animated family film on Jan. 14, 2022.