Venom: The Last Dance Pushes Franchise Past Massive Global Box Office Milestone

The Venom franchise proved its worth in overseas markets this weekend, as Venom: The Last Dance delivered the goods internationally despite struggling in domestic theaters. Thanks to the film’s strong global debut, the offbeat superhero franchise hit a major commercial milestone. The latest installment, purportedly the last, brings back star Tom Hardy in the dual central roles of journalist Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote Venom — characters that originally served as villains to Spider-Man. Like its blockbuster predecessors, Venom: The Last Dance exists in the same universe as Sony’s Spider-Man movies. It's directed by debutante Kelly Marcel, who served as a writer on the two previous films.

Venom: The Last Dancegrossed an estimated $175 million in its extended global debut, even though it underwhelmed domestically with just over $50 million. Of this total, over $45 million came from China, which is easily the franchise’s most valuable territory, even as the rest of Hollywood grows wary of relying on it too much in the post-pandemic era. The first Venom, released in 2018, grossed nearly $300 million in China, but its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, couldn’t secure a release there for a variety of reasons in 2021. Venom: The Last Dance would hope to make up for lost ground, and for the audiences that it has lost in the domestic market.

Combined with the first film’s $856 million lifetime haul and the second film’s $501 million global haul, the franchise has now passed the $1.5 billion mark worldwide. Its per-film average stands at around $510 million, although this will increase considering the third installment is just a few days into its run. The Venom movies are the crowning jewel of Sony’s universe of Spider-Man spin-offs, which also includes the notorious critical and commercial flops Morbius and Madame Web. Even though Tom Holland doesn’t appear in any of these films as the web-slinger, there are enough references to his humongous series peppered throughout them.

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The Venom films have always been seen as goofy alternatives to the more straight-laced Spidey franchise, and this is reflected in their largely negative critical reception. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, the first Venom holds a 30% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The second film, directed by Andy Serkis, remains the best-reviewed of the trilogy, with a 57% score. Venom: The Last Dance currently has a 36% RT rating, but a series-low B- CinemaScore. Each of these movies were produced on reported budgets ranging from $110 million to $120 million, which is roughly half of what other superhero films cost these days. You can watch Venom: The Last Dance in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Eddie Brock, balancing life with the alien symbiote Venom, faces a complex struggle with a powerful new adversary threatening their existence and the world. As a turbulent alliance forms between man and symbiote, the duo embarks on a thrilling journey of survival, challenging their limits and ethical boundaries.

Director Kelly Marcel

Runtime 110 Mins