5 Reasons Why Venom 3 Disapppointed At The Box Office

Sony Pictures

Sony has continued to do what it can with the "Spider-Man" franchise by making movies featuring characters not named Spider-Man. That started with 2018's "Venom," which was an unexpectedly huge hit, taking in an astonishing $856 million worldwide. That success paved the way for an entire trilogy, which has now come to a close. Tom Hardy returned as Eddie Brock for one last ride with Marvel's symbiote in "Venom: The Last Dance," which hit theaters over the weekend. Unfortunately, the franchise is going out on a low note.

Director Kelly Marcel's "The Last Dance" opened to an estimated $51 million domestically, which is a new low for the franchise. "Venom" opened to $80.2 million, while 2021's "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" opened to $90 million on its way to more than $500 million worldwide, even at a time when the pandemic was impacting theaters in a major way. This opening haul was well below expectations, which even just a few weeks ago had "Venom 3" taking in $70 million on opening weekend. For what it's worth, it still ranks the second-biggest opening for a superhero movie in 2024 behind "Deadpool & Wolverine" ($211.4 million), even if it is a distant second. 

The good news is that the third installment was still a big draw overseas, taking in $124 million internationally in its debut. Sony also produced the film for $120 million, which is far below the sky high $200 million budgets we often see for these blockbuster event films. Still, a $175 million global opening isn't what anyone had in mind given how big the first two films were.

So, what happened here? What went wrong? Why aren't American audiences showing up? Is there any good news at all for Sony? We're going to dig into the biggest reasons why "Venom: The Last Dance" disappointed on its opening weekend at the box office. Let's get into it.

Sony Pictures

Critics weren't exactly charmed by "Venom: The Last Dance," and that didn't help the film's prospects heading into the weekend. The Marvel sequel currently holds a rough 37% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the audience score is solid and holding at 80%. Unfortunately, the film also earned a not-so-great B- CinemaScore, which was behind the previous two entries in the trilogy. Put simply, word of mouth just wasn't as good for "The Last Dance" as it was for the first "Venom" or "Let There Be Carnage."

/Film's Chris Evangelista called "The Last Dance" a "rushed, clumsy, lackluster finale" in his review. In fairness, the first two films didn't fare well with critics either, but the first "Venom" finally gave the Marvel villain a solo film, with Hardy arguably at the height of his power as a star. "Let There Be Carnage" introduced another fan-favorite villain in the form of the Carnage character and came at a time when there was far less competition. This latest entry didn't have any of that same benefit.

Sony Pictures

Part of what has worked well for Sony in recent years when it comes to the "Spider-Man" franchise is being able to sell these films as events. "Spider-Man: Homecoming" was Tom Holland's first solo film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "Into the Spider-Verse" was an animated film that finally gave Miles Morales the spotlight. Even the first "Venom" gave a long fan-favorite villain a solo film for the first time with an A-list actor in the role. Unfortunately for the studio, they simply couldn't sell "The Last Dance" as a must-see event to the masses very effectively.

Hardy was very clear that this is going to be his last solo "Venom" film. Sony tried to make it clear that this was going to be the end of an era with the title choice. The trailers and marketing leaned into that a bit, but general audiences didn't seem to care all that much. In the end, it looked like more of the same. That just wasn't enough to motivate more casual moviegoers to get off of the couch in the way that other "Spider-Man" universe films over the last five or six years have.

Sony Pictures

One thing Sony tried to do while marketing "Venom: The Last Dance" was lean into the angle that Knull was going to make his first appearance in a live-action film. Created by writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman, Knull is a relatively recent addition to the Marvel Comics canon, but a powerful and popular one among readers. Be that as it may, his inclusion in the trailers did little to stir excitement for the average viewer. The marketing couldn't sell Knull as a big deal, even if Sony tried to make it seem like he was a threat as big as Thanos.

The difference with Thanos in the MCU is that his inclusion in "The Avengers" was a total surprise. It was a little something extra for viewers who were already satisfied. Sony was relying on Knull in some way to help sell tickets. Even though the character is known by readers of the comics, he doesn't have name recognition the way that Carnage does, which helped make "Let There Be Carnage" a hit three years ago. This villain, powerful though he may be, failed to deliver the same level of impact.

Sony Pictures

"Venom: The Last Dance" overperformed against expectations overseas, delivering $124 million worth of ticket sales, or roughly 70% of the film's total gross thus far. Were it not for that, we would possibly be talking about this finale to the trilogy in a different light. But the "Venom" films have always played particularly well overseas, which is what allowed the first one to become a wildly unexpected smash hit. In particular, "Venom" made $269 million of its $856 million total in China. This time around, those overseas grosses are going to save the film from being a flop, rather than turning it into a bigger-than-expected hit.

While "Venom 3" opened decently in China, it's not on the same level as the first film. Hollywood films just aren't playing in China like they used to in the aftermath of the pandemic. Fortunately, other countries around the world are still curious to see how the saga of Eddie and Venom plays out. Those ticket sales should get the film near the $400 million mark, give or take, when all's said and done. That will be enough to get Sony into the black, but it also makes it clear that ending the series now is the right thing to do. This one is barely going to be a hit, and it's only going to get there because of its outsized international appeal.

Sony Pictures

When "Venom" hit theaters in 2018, comic book movies were at their absolute peak. "Avengers: Infinity War" had become one of the biggest movies ever. "Avengers: Endgame" was just around the corner. DC even turned "Aquaman" into an unexpectedly gigantic hit. It seemed like superheroes could do no wrong. That was then. This is now. Much has changed in the last handful of years, and in the pandemic era, comic book movies are no longer automatic hits. Audiences need a good reason to turn up beyond a Marvel or DC character being on the poster. "The Last Dance" unquestionably suffered as a result of audiences changing their habits regarding these sorts of blockbusters.

Put simply, bad movies won't cut it. "Madame Web" flopped badly, largely because it wasn't a good movie. The same could be said of "Morbius." In 2023, every single DC movie flopped, including "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," "The Flash," and "Blue Beetle," as did Marvel's "The Marvels." The misses are starting to outweigh the hits for everyone with a superhero universe to protect. The hits, such as this year's "Deadpool & Wolverine," do have something in common, though. Generally speaking, critics and audiences view them as good. A bad movie isn't good enough to succeed anymore based solely on its IP. Naturally, opinion is going to vary from person to person, but the general consensus matters a lot these days. Even then, good word of mouth is no guarantee of success. For now, though, it's essential for any comic book movie to have a shot at breaking through.

"Venom: The Last Dance" is in theaters now.