The anticipation surrounding Venom: Let There Be Carnage has been sky-high, mainly because of the hype around the film's post-credits scene and the early praise from fans.
Directed by Andy Serkis, the Tom Hardy-led sequel follows the story of Eddie Brock and the titular symbiote as they try to adjust to their newfound dual life. However, the sudden transformation of Woody Harrelson's Cletus Kasady into Carnage forces the pair to step up and deal with this new threat.
Let There Be Carnage had multiple delays before finally settling on an October release window. The box office success of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings cemented the exclusive theatrical release of Let There Be Carnage, meaning that everyone is keeping a close eye on its performance when it premieres on the big screen.
Now, the first report of Let There Be Carnage's box office returns has arrived.
Venom 2 Leads the Box Office
Deadline shared that Venom: Let There Be Carnage earned an estimated $11.6 million dollars during domestic Thursday night previews. The sequel started playing at 4:00 p.m. local time at a total of 3,475 theaters.
This is an impressive start for the Tom Hardy sequel as it's the second-best U.S. box office preview night from a movie during the pandemic after Black Widow opened with $13.2 million.
The Sony-Marvel picture now has a leg up on Marvel Studios' latest, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which bagged $8.8 million during its Thursday night previews in early September.
Venom 2 Is Following Venom 1's Footsteps
Back in 2018, Tom Hardy's Venom earned the record for the best opening weekend for the month of October, taking in an impressive $10 million dollars during its opening night.
While those numbers are pre-pandemic, this latest box office development for Venom: Let There Be Carnage is already a promising sign, and it seems that more fans will head to theaters after the highly-talked-about post-credits scene that has some fans going wild on social media.
Deadline also pointed out that the current Rotten Tomatoes rating for Let There Be Carnage is at 58% Rotten, which is higher than the first installment. Despite that, the good word of mouth and social media hype could still influence viewers to see the film on the big screen as watching it alongside a plethora of fans is definitely a different experience.
Many would agree that Shang-Chi's theatrical exclusivity alongside positive reception helped the film to reach impressive box office numbers, and the same could happen to the Venom sequel since it is under the Marvel brand.
It will be interesting to see if Let There Be Carnage will have box office legs even after opening weekend, but the fact that the film is exclusive to theaters should help turn the tide.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is now playing in theaters worldwide.
