‘Venom’ trumps bad reviews

In a weekend of perfect counterprogramming for Hollywood, the comic-book movie Venom shrugged off bad reviews to shatter the October boxoffice record with an $80 million (Dh293.8 million) debut, while Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soared to $41.3 million.

With $174.5 million in tickets sold at US and Canadian theatres, according to comScore, it was easily the best October weekend ever thanks to two very different films that both outperformed expectations.

Venom came in a critically panned, much-doubted foray by Sony Pictures to kick-start a Marvel expansion away from Spider-Man. Warner Bros’ A Star Is Born remake rode a wave of hype, Oscar buzz and acclaim for Cooper’s directorial debut and Lady Gaga’s first leading performance.

“We knew we had a hit,” said Warner Bros distribution chief Jeffrey Goldstein of A Star Is Born. “We also knew that every time people saw the movie, they felt it, they cried, they loved it. People just like the movie.”

That was more in question for director Ruben Fleischer’s Venom, starring Tom Hardy as the antihero. The film earned a dismal 32 per cent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. —