As recently as the beginning of the week, Sony were conservatively estimating that Venom: Let There Be Carnage was tracking for an opening weekend line with the $47 million brought in by A Quiet Place Part II. Well, the early numbers are in, and the superhero sequel has almost doubled those early projections.
Tom Hardy’s return as Eddie Brock has comfortably smashed the previous benchmark set by Black Widow in July after bringing in an estimated $90 million. Not only is that the best first frame since the COVID-19 crisis swept across the globe, but it’s the second-highest October debut under any circumstances, ahead of Ruben Fleischer’s 2018 opener, with Joker still leading the pack having brought in $96 million two years ago.
Black Widow may have been dislodged, but the success of Let There Be Carnage now means that the three top-grossing titles of the pandemic era are all Marvel-branded comic book blockbusters, as if you needed any more evidence to prove the company as the most marketable brand in the industry.
Andy Serkis’ film doesn’t roll out internationally for another couple of weeks, but having bulldozed records on home soil, Sony have a massive hit on their hands. No Time to Die and Dune will provide some stiff competition over the next few weeks, but Venom: Let There Be Carnage is off to a phenomenal start.
