NEW YORK ā Pandemic moviegoing is finally starting to look like pre-pandemic moviegoing. Sony Pictures' Marvel sequel āVenom: Let There Be Carnageā blew away expectations to debut with $90.1 million in ticket sales, making it easily the best opening of the pandemic, according to studio estimates Sunday.
āVenom: Let There Be Carnageā had been forecast to open with closer to half that total. But the film, which is playing exclusively in theaters, exceeded even the debut of the 2018 original. āVenom,ā the āSpider-Manā offshoot that introduced Tom Hardy's parasitic alien symbiote, launched with $80.3 million. Only 2019's āJokerā ($96.2 million) has ever opened bigger in October.
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The result ā along with robust international sales for the James Bond film āNo Time to Dieā ā constituted the best news for movie theaters in more than 18 months.
āWith apologies to Mr. Twain: The death of movies has been greatly exaggerated,ā Tom Rothman, chairman and chief executive of Sony Picturesā Motion Picture Group, said in a statement.
Both āLet There Be Carnageā and MGM's āNo Time to Dieā had originally been set to open last year. Believing the best box-office return would happen with an exclusive release in theaters, both studios (neither of which has a major streaming platform) held out for better moviegoing conditions. Over the weekend, their wait was rewarded.
āNo Time to Die," which opens in North America on Friday, launched with $119.1 million in 54 overseas markets. The pace, according to MGM and Universal Pictures (which has many international rights), was roughly in line with the opening for āSkyfall.ā Following its London premiere last week, āNo Time to Die" ā the 25th Bond film and Daniel Craig's last outing as the super spy ā grossed $25.6 million in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its $11.4 million on Saturday there was the best box office day for any Bond film on its home turf.
Before āLet There Be Carnage," the top pandemic openings had been the Walt Disney's āBlack Widowā ($80 million), āShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsā ($75 million) and Universal Pictures' āFast and Furiousā sequel āF9ā ($70 million). āBlack Widowā launched simultaneously in homes, prompting a lawsuit from star Scarlett Johansson which was settled last week. āShang-Chi," āF9ā and āLet There Be Carnage" debuted only in theaters.
āFilms can only become cultural when people see them together on the biggest, best screens and have that experience as a group,ā said Josh Greenstein, president of Sony Motion Pictures Group. āYou canāt replicate that by yourself at home.ā
After numerous delays, Sony in the end actually moved up the release of the āVenomā sequel, directed by Andy Serkis and co-starring Woody Harrelson as the Venom foe Carnage, by two weeks. Overseas, it also added $13.8 million in Russia.
āWe saw the health of āShang-Chiā and it gave us confidence that when the product is there, the box office will return," said Adrian Smith, Sony's distribution chief. āItās very validating to see the demand for theatricality."
Not everything is bouncing back in theaters and quickly as Marvel movies and the biggest brand names. Family moviegoing is still sluggish, as are ticket sales at art house theaters. Older audiences and families with unvaccinated children have been more cautious.
āThe Addams Family 2," an animated sequel from MGM and United Artists Releasing, opened with $18 million despite terrible reviews (27% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) from critics. The film, a sequel to the 2019 cartoon reboot, was launched simultaneously on video-on-demand.
āThe Many Saints of Newark,ā the long-in-coming prequel to āThe Sopranos,ā flopped. The film, co-written by āSopranosā creator David Chase and set decades before the seminal HBO series, opened with $5 million. The film, like all Warner Bros. releases in 2021, was also streaming on HBO Max for subscribers ā a practice some filmmakers, including Chase, have decried. The studio has pledged to return to exclusive theatrical windows in 2022.
Julia Ducournau's āTitane,ā the Palme d'Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival this summer, also struggled to make a dent in theaters. The film, a wild odyssey about a serial-killing woman with a unique bond to automobiles, grossed about $516,000 in 562 theaters for Neon.
But spectacle movies, particularly those that appeal especially to younger males, have been driving an even larger share of moviegoing this year. Marvel's āShang-Chi," the studio's first film led by an Asian superhero, has dominated the last month in theaters. It had previously been the No. 1 film for four consecutive weeks. āShang-Chiā this weekend became the first film to pass $200 million domestically, with a cumulative haul of $206.1 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $386.9 million globally
Large format screens are also helping to drive the recovery. With $30 million in global sales, IMAX had its best October weekend ever. Megan Colligan, president of IMAX Entertainment, called it proof of āwhat today's box office is capable of.ā
āThe perception may be that these films are overperforming," Colligan said, "but the reality is that many people are underestimating just how excited global consumers are to get back to the movies.ā
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. āVenom: Let There Be Carnage,ā $90.1 million
2. āThe Addams Family 2,ā $18 million
3. āShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,ā $6 million
4. āThe Many Saints of Newark,ā $5 million
5. āDear Evan Hansen,ā $2.5 million
6. āFree Guy,ā $2.28 million
7. āCandyman,ā $1.2 million
8. āJungle Cruise,ā $680,000
9. āThe Jesus Music,ā $560,000
10. āTitane,ā $516,000
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP