It's been a minute since the first Venom hit theaters, and while the film was slightly divisive on the critical side, it proved to be a major success on the commercial front. Now, the sequel -- Venom: Let There Be Carnage -- has officially hit theaters, and it would appear that it's once again raking in the dough at a breakneck pace.
A report from Deadline indicates that the film, which stars Tom Hardy and Woody Harrelson as Venom and Carnage respectively, has grossed a whopping $90 million in its opening weekend.
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The impressive haul cements the sequel as having the highest-grossing opening weekend since the pandemic began in 2020, eking out Marvel's Black Widow's debut weekend of $80.8M. The report also notes that the sequel surpassed the original's opening weekend, which totaled to $80.2M.
It should be noted that unlike many films released amidst the pandemic, Venom 2 was not made available on streaming services, leaving viewers with no option but to hit the theater. And that they did, much to the delight of Sony President Josh Greenstein. "For us, Venom: Let There Be Carnage absolutely validates our exclusive theatrical window strategy,” he states, to Deadline. “If you look at the history of theatrical, the obituaries have been written many times, and they’ve always been wrong. We had confidence in the theatrical experience, confidence in our big valuable IP, and took full advantage and had the patience to weather all of this.”
It will be interesting to see how Venom: Let There Be Carnage performs in the coming weeks -- for those who hit the theater to catch the anticipated sequel, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments.
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WATCH: Carnage's Transformation in Venom: Let There Be Carnage
