Venom 3 Box Office Comeback: Why International Success Might Save This “Flop”

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Venom 3: Why the supposed “flop” might just pull through after all

Let’s talk about something crucial here, folks — box office openings. First weekends? Absolutely critical. You don’t need to be Martin Scorsese (or even pretend to be one) to know this basic rule of Hollywood economics. But opening weekends aren’t where the story ends. I mean, look at Venom: The Last Dance. If you believed the headlines during its lackluster U.S. opening, you’d think the film was done for — dead in the water. With a $51 million debut, the worst in the franchise’s history, the naysayers were out in full force. They called it a flop. Ridiculed it. But guess what? The story isn’t over.

The rough start: $51 million? That’s all?

Yes, yes, let’s not sugarcoat it: the opening weekend was, shall we say, less than spectacular. When a movie with a budget of $120 million stumbles out of the gate with a $51 million domestic return, you’ve got every analyst and Twitter ‘movie buff’ screaming from the rooftops—“It’s OVER!” But hold on a second; it takes more than one weekend to topple a symbiote giant like Venom. The franchise has a core international fanbase. Let’s dissect the real factors in play, shall we?

International box office to the rescue!

Here’s where I flip the script. Overseas, Venom 3 is proving to be a crowd-pleaser, hauling in a robust $279 million (and counting!) from international markets. Combined with the domestic earnings, its total is creeping towards a solid $400 million. Now, some folks will rush to compare these numbers to the earlier films. Sure, it’s not anywhere near the $856 million the first Venom pulled in globally, but it’s doing just fine when you see the low competition and the return per dollar against its streamlined budget. Not every film aims (or needs) Marvel-level numbers to be deemed a success. They’ll talk about the money, but I will talk about the profit margin. And baby, this one still has legs.

Strategic acrobatics in a barren field

Part of the reason for this resurgence? Timing. In November, Venom: The Last Dance faced practically zip in terms of competition. For three weeks straight, it sat gloriously at the top of the domestic box office with barely a major rival in sight. Now, don’t be fooled—the The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and indie horror film Heretic made a pass at the big leagues, but Venom whacked them down like flies.

Of course, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson rolled into town with his action-comedy Red One, which could pose a little threat, but come on, folks. Who do you think international audiences are gravitating to: Venom or Red One? Look, Venom has brand loyalty, and that symbiote charm is unusually irresistible worldwide.”

Can it hit $500 million? Let’s keep those expectations real

Look, I’m not going to sit here and tell you Venom 3 is going to hit a billion or break any records that the earlier films set. Let’s manage those expectations like a savvy investor, shall we? The previous installment, Let There Be Carnage, topped out near $500 million globally. Realistically, Venom: The Last Dance can still cross or hover around that number if the international momentum holds up and Red One doesn’t sideline it too hard. But make no mistake: it’s safe to say that the golden days of raking in three-quarters of a billion are probably out of reach.

Now, let’s pause for a second and remember, films like Venom don’t face the same pressure some of these mega-budget superhero movies do. At a modest $120 million budget (compared to the monstrosities that Disney keeps pushing out at $200M+), Venom 3 doesn’t need to break a billion to be a massive win for Sony. Heck, it doesn’t even need to get close—in fact, anything north of $500 million would spell success.

What the superhero genre needs right now

Let’s be brutally honest here: superhero films are not basking in the same glory as they were back in the 2010s. The genre is struggling. The list of recent box office flops in this space is daunting. We’ve got The Flash—a literal disaster at the box office. Madame Web? Don’t even get me started—an embarrassment. And anyone remember Joker: Folie à Deux? No? Exactly. It was a straight-up failure. Analysts were calling it an “unmitigated disaster” right after its opening, and I’m inclined to agree. Even Marvel saw its fair share of struggles with The Marvels, but they got their lifeline tossed by Deadpool & Wolverine pulling in over a billion worldwide. Bless Ryan Reynolds for that, truly.

Venom 3 arrives like an unlikely contender amidst this superhero slump. For a genre hungry to capture its former glory, Venom is still relatively healthy—even if it never hits the heights of the early MCU juggernauts. This film might not be Tom Cruise Top Gun success, but who needs that? In today’s environment, consistency is the name of the game, and Venom’s pulling through.

What about those pesky reviews?

Now, let’s address the elephant in the room. The critics? Not huge fans this time around. A 4/10 review from IGN for Venom: The Last Dance? Ouch. “Trips over itself,” they said. “Boring and generic,” they groaned. Sure, the action can be a little wonky, and the plot? Let’s agree here—it’s not winning any Oscars.

But here’s the thing: nobody’s watching Venom for the plot of a Christopher Nolan film. People go to see Tom Hardy bicker with an alien symbiote while stuff blows up. It’s entertainment, folks—not art house cinema. You give the people what they want, and in this case, loud, goofy, imperfect fun is working just fine. Leave the deep introspection and philosophical ponderings for your next three-hour epic on Netflix.

The Bottom Line? It Ain’t Over

So yeah, skeptics can chomp away all they want, but Venom: The Last Dance has life left in it yet. If you thought that the franchise is on its last legs, think again. This international appeal is saving the movie from a full-on box-office catastrophe. Don’t make the mistake of calling it a flop too early.

The key takeaway? This is the reality of Hollywood in 2023. Oversized expectations, Twitter trolls, and swift judgments are everywhere. But, as I always say—timing, market, and international love can make all the difference.

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