Venom: The Last Dance opened to franchise-worst $51 million in America over the Oct. 25-27 weekend but prospered overseas, boasting worldwide opening of $175 million against a budget of $120 million.
Venom does great business overseas: The Last Dance pulled off the biggest China opening ($46 million) in recent memory.
Sony’s Marvel movies get panned by critics–outside of Spider-Man and Spider-Verse titles–few get more than the 30 percent mark on Rotten Tomatoes. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the highest with 57 percent score.)
Venom doesn’t have cultural staying power like Nolan’s Batman films or Marvel’s Avengers movies.
In an era of superhero fatigue and expensive bombs such as Marvel Studios’ The Marvels and DC’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Sony chief Tom Rothman’s cost-conscious strategy seems wiser than ever and has reaped millions upon millions in profits, mostly thanks to the Venom trilogy.
It allows the studio to experiment with lesser-known Marvel characters connected to Spidey and, in the latest twist, includes R-rating to the upcoming actioner Kraven The Hunter, in mid-December.
“The bottom line is the quality of the movies, the appeal of the lessor-known characters and, most importantly, marketing strategies that make clear for uninitiated moviegoers the plot, point of view and tone of the film,” the Comscore analyst adds.
The net budget was roughly $110 million, while others say it was higher, or around $150 million before tax incentives and other credits. The intended budget was $90 million, but Sony had no choice but to spend more because of the extra costs associated with the pandemic, the labor strikes and backlog of films waiting for post-production houses.
“Having the imprimatur of the Spider-Man brand gives any spinoff film or character a leg up,” says Dergarbedian. “But the movie and the marketing must be absolutely spot on in taking secondary character and make them appealing to a global audience.”
