“Venom” is entering its second full month of being in theaters around the world. Even after the already-impressive domestic and international box office grosses, the best could be yet to come. You see, this weekend marks the debut of the Sony superhero film in China, and if the first day is any indication, “Venom” could go from being a nice hit to one of the biggest superhero films the studio has ever released.
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Deadline is reporting that Sony’s film pulled in an incredible $34.7 million in its first full day of release in China. Analysts predict that the Sony film starring Tom Hardy could earn more than $100 million in its first three days in the Middle Kingdom. If that number sticks, “Venom” would be only the second superhero film to earn over $100 million in its first three days behind “Avengers: Infinity War.”
So what would a $100+ million opening in China mean for the ‘Spider-Man’ spin-off film? Well, through Thursday, the worldwide total for “Venom” sits at just over $554 million worldwide (again, not including anything from China). Add $100 million to that number, combined with the weekend grosses domestically and in other countries around the world, and you’re looking at the outside chance that the movie sits close to $700 million at the end of the weekend. That total, combined with the future earnings in China, means the Sony property enters some rarified air.
“Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which was poised to be a massive hit and kick-start the expanded Spider-Man cinematic universe, pulled in $709 million worldwide in 2014. It’s quite clear that the new film will easily breeze past this number, meaning Sony’s latest Spider-Man-less superhero film is outperforming the studio’s last ‘Spider-Man’ film.
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From there, the next major milestone for “Venom” will be $758 million, which is the worldwide gross of “Amazing Spider-Man,” the 2012 film that rebooted the franchise with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. It looks like the Tom Hardy film is going to be able to do that quite handily.
The real question is what total can Sony expect from China. If “Venom” gets boosted to $800 million (definitely not out of the realm of possibility), you’re looking at this film passing “Spider-Man 2” ($784 million) and the original “Spider-Man” starring Tobey Maguire ($822 million). That would mean that “Venom” is the second-biggest superhero film for Sony, after “Spider-Man 3,” which earned $891 million back in 2007.
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And if “Venom” can somehow earn $900 million, that would be nothing short of a miracle, and would even eclipse the $880 million that “Spider-Man: Homecoming” earned last year. In other words, don’t hold your breath.
But the reality is that “Venom” should get close to $800 million and would be one of the biggest Sony hits ever, and better than both Andrew Garfield ‘Spider-Man’ films. That’s definitely a significant achievement considering the film has been mired by bad reviews. With pundits suggesting that Sony might want to renegotiate with Marvel Studios after the box office success of “Venom,” it looks like the studio is going to be sitting pretty as it enters the next chapter of its Venomverse.