Villain Venom is box office hero in North American theatres
LOS ANGELES: Superhero blockbuster ‘Venom’ saved the day at the North American box office this weekend, pulling in an estimated US$80 million in ticket sales, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.
The first movie in Sony’s Marvel Universe, it stars Tom Hardy as a journalist who becomes the host for an alien symbiote that gives him superpowers as the popular ‘Spider-Man’ character.
‘Venom’ was panned by critics, but comfortably broke the October opening weekend record by over US$20 million, according to Box Office Mojo figures.
In second was another new release, musical romance ‘A Star Is Born’, which took in US$41.2 million.
The third remake of the 1937 film of the same name, it marks the directing debut of Bradley, who stars as a musician who discovers and falls in love with a young singer played by pop superstar Lady Gaga.
Third place went to Warner Bros.’s ‘Smallfoot’, with earnings of US$14.9 million in its second weekend. The comic family animation tells the story of a group of Yeti who come across a human, with voicing by Channing Tatum, LeBron James and Danny DeVito.
Coming in fourth was last weekend’s champion, Universal’s ‘Night School’, whose earnings dropped nearly US$16 million to US$12.3 million this weekend.
The raucous comedy stars Kevin Hart as one student in a class of misfits working towards high school diplomas under the firm tutelage of Tiffany Haddish.
Fifth place went to Universal’s family-friendly offering ‘The House With a Clock in Its Walls’, which slipped from third place last weekend with takings of US$7.2 million.
Rounding out this weekend’s top 10 were:
‘A Simple Favor’ (US$3.4 million) ‘The Nun’ (US$2.6 million) ‘Hell Fest’ (US$2.1 million) ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ (US$2.1 million)
‘The Predator’ (US$900,000) — AFP