Tom Hardy's superhero tale "Venom" grabbed $80 million at 4,250
sites for Sony and Marvel while the Lady Gaga-starring remake of
"A Star Is Born" earned an estimated $42.6 million at 3,686
locations for Warner Bros. -- well above pre-weekend forecasts.
"Venom" smashed the record for an October opening, topping the
$55.8 million launch of "Gravity" by 43%.
"Venom" also dominated at the international box office with
$125.2 million, setting an international record for an October
opening. South Korea led the way with $16.3 million.
"Venom" and the critically acclaimed "A Star Is Born" were both
able to draw effectively from beyond their core audiences. The
strong domestic openings pushed the weekend's total business to
about $174 million, or 15% above the prior mark of $151.5
million set in 2015 when Matt Damon's "The Martian" opened,
according to comScore.
Adrian Smith, Sony's domestic distribution chief, told Variety
that the studio was able to overcome downbeat reviews by putting
emphasis on "Venom's" fun factor. "The idea was always to make a
film that all audiences could enjoy," he added.
Sony is hoping "Venom" will launch a shared universe similar to
Disney's lucrative superhero franchise. "Zombieland" director
Ruben Fleischer helmed the film, which carries a $100 million
budget. Hardy portrays Eddie Brock, a journalist bound to the
alien entity known as Venom.
The fourth iteration of "A Star Is Born," directed by Bradley
Cooper, arrived in theaters amid a wave of positive buzz and an
awards campaign that's gained traction since its debut at the
Venice Film Festival on Sept. 5. The release of the soundtrack
album on Friday added to the film's drawing power, according to
Warner's domestic distribution head Jeff Goldstein.
"This is a movie that will be around for months," Goldstein
added. "There's a lot of room for growth, particularly among
younger audiences."
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore, credited
Sony and Warner Bros. with savvy scheduling. "A box office star
is born as October sings a glorious tune the likes of which the
industry has never heard before for the oft overlooked month, as
a perfect harmony of superhero blockbuster and Oscar bound
musical create one of the most perfectly orchestrated movie
weekends at the multiplex in recent memory," he added.
[to top of second column] |
The weekend lifted the overall domestic total for 2018 to $9.11
billion as of Sunday, up 9.2% over the same point last year.
Universal's "First Man," Fox's "Bad Times at the El Royale" and
Sony's "Goosebumps 2" are the major openers next weekend.
Universal's "Halloween" is expected to do strong business of at
least $50 million when it opens on Oct. 19.
Warner Bros.' second weekend of animated entry "Smallfoot" finished
third this weekend with $14.4 million at 4,151 venues, followed by
Universal's second session of Kevin Hart-Tiffany Haddish comedy
"Night School" with $12.3 million at 3,019 locations. Amblin-Universal's
"The House With a Clock in Its Walls" finished fifth with $7.3
million in its third weekend for a domestic total of $55.1 million
and $87.4 million worldwide.
Lionsgate's fourth weekend of Anna Kendrick's comic thriller "A
Simple Favor" came in sixth with $3.4 million to take its 24-day
domestic total to $49 million. Warner's fifth weekend of
horror-thriller "The Nun" followed in seventh with $2.6 million to
push its 31-day take to $113 million.
Lionsgate-CBS Films' second weekend of "Hell Fest" was battling for
eighth place with Warner's eighth weekend of "Crazy Rich Asians"
with $2.1 million each. "Asians" has hit $169 million and is 2018's
10th biggest domestic grosser.
Rounding out the top 10 was Fox's fourth weekend of "The Predator"
with $900,000, giving the sci-fier $50 million in 24 days. Studio
8-Sony's "White Boy Rick" followed in 11th with $575,000 in its
fourth frame to reach $29 million domestically.
National Geographic's second weekend of rock climbing documentary
"Free Solo" finished 12th with $540,000 at only 41 sites, followed
by Fox's debut of teen drama "The Hate U Give" with $500,000 at 36
locations. "The Hate" will go wide on Oct. 19.
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |