‘Venom’ surpasses US$800 million worldwide
‘ VENOM’ has passed US$ 800 million worldwide - as it outgrosses ‘Wonder Woman’.
The Sony superhero movie - which featured Tom Hardy in the lead role of Eddie Brock and his symbiotic alter- ego - has officially surpassed the gross total money made at the box office by 2017’s smash hit ‘Wonder Woman’, which was created the DC Extended Universe.
‘ Venom’ is based on the iconic Marvel villain of the same name - who is one of several enemies of ‘Spider-Man’ - and the character first appeared on the big screen in ‘Spider-Man 3’, which was also created by Sony.
Although the Venom character is much less known than superheroes such as Spider-Man and Captain America, the ‘Venom’ movie arrived with big hype, and met expectations when it made a record-breaking October
opening in the US, and continued to perform well overseas.
The movie even beat the gross target set by 2017’s ‘Justice League’, which was DC’s answer to Marvel’s ‘ Avengers’ - the ensemble movie which brings together several big names from the franchise’s various comics.
According to Box Office Mojo, ‘ Venom’ has grossed US$ 822 million as of the time of writing, with almost US$ 611 million coming from outside the US.
By comparison, ‘ Wonder Woman’ took in US$ 821 million worldwide, but still holds the crown for its domestic opening, with US$ 412 million to ‘Venom’s US$ 211 million.
According to sources, the film’s performance has likely cemented plans for a sequel, which could feature Woody Harrelson as the comic book character Carnage, after it was teased in the movie’s mid-credit sequence.
Sony have yet to officially announce plans for a ‘ Venom’ sequel, but Tom Hardy recently revealed he’d love to be a part of a franchise for “several years”.
Speaking before the movie had hit cinema screens, he said: “We went into this hoping to build it, and I went into it hoping to do something for the next several years and I can invest myself in.
“But we have to launch it and see how people feel about it, and if they don’t like it, we’ll see, but I don’t think they will. I have a really good feeling about it. I know the whole team has poured a lot of love into it, and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve left a lot of stuff out there and I did a lot of improvisation in it that will never make it to the movie.”