Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Marvel’s Venom eclipses Star
LOS ANGELES — Scathing critical reviews have had little bearing on film performance these days as movies with poor Rotten Tomatoes scores have found major success at the box office.
In the latest example, Columbia Pictures’ Venom managed to beat critical darling A Star Is Born for the top box office spot over the weekend, debuting in first place in North America with $80.2 million and topping the previous October opening weekend record, according to figures from measurement firm comScore.
“The disconnect that seemingly had gone away between critics and audiences is now back in full view,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at media measurement firm comScore. “It just seems that people are looking for a fun, escapist time at the movie theater, and they’re not really paying attention (to critics).”
The Marvel film Venom, which cost an estimated $100 million to produce. In the origin story, after an encounter with a parasitic alien symbiote, journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) becomes the titular villain, a menacing beast and frequent nemesis of Spider-Man.
In second place was Warner Bros.’ A Star Is Born — already being floated as a best picture front-runner — which opened Oct. 4 with $44.2 million.
The $40 million film is the fifth iteration of the classic Hollywood story, which started life as What Price Hollywood? in 1932. The new Star Is Born features Bradley Cooper (who also directs and co-wrote the screenplay) as a fading rock star who discovers and falls in love with a talented young singer-songwriter (Lady Gaga). It earned positive reviews from audiences and critics, with an A on CinemaScore and a 91 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In third place, Warner Bros.’ Smallfoot, now in its second weekend, added $14.4 million.
Universal’s Night School, also in its second weekend, came in fourth, adding $12.5 million.
Rounding out the top five, Universal’s The House With a Clock in Its Walls, now in its third weekend, earned $7.3 million.
Also new over the weekend, FTHM’s Met Opera: Aida came in at No. 10 with $1.7 million.
In limited release, Fox’s The Hate U Give opened in 36 theaters with $512,035, a solid per-screen average of $14,223. Amandla Stenberg stars in the PG-13 drama about the aftermath of an officer-involved shooting. The picture earned a 96 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“This being a record October weekend with a Marvel movie and an Oscar contender at the top, those two movies kind of sucked all the oxygen out of the room,” Dergarabedian said. “By the time A Star Is
Born and Venom have burned off some of the box office in the next couple weeks, when
The Hate U Give goes into nationwide release, it should do quite well.”
Today, Fox opens the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale,
Universal debuts the drama First Man and Columbia premieres the comedy Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween. In limited release, Amazon Studio opens the drama Beautiful Boy, and Roadside Attractions releases The Oath.