Incurable consumers of comic book movies will certainly not have missed the cinema debut of “Venom: The Last Dance”. The successful Marvel series produced by Sony Pictures, starring Oscar-nominated star Tom Hardy, has now reached its third episode, closing the circle of a narrative development that in the evolutions of the Spider-Man Extended Universe has established enormously positive market results, avoiding the more disappointing ones of similar productions such as “Morbius” and “Madama Web”.
Although it never fully won over critics, the saga immediately attracted the attention of the general public for the character's out-of-parameter charisma and, no less, for the completely spot-on choice of his interpreter. The reception of the first "Venom" released in 2018 still demonstrates this today, after having grossed the beauty of over 850 million dollars worldwide; the same fortunate fate was met by the 2021 sequel "Rampage of Carnage", debuting as one of the best openings in theaters during the pandemic period and reaching the equally impressive figure of over 500 million internationally, against a budget of 110 million.
Now that the third episode is here, the box office situation does not seem to be the same : the American box office results mark the worst opening for a film in the saga at the time of its debut, with 51 million collected in 4,131 theaters and an average per theater of 12,345 dollars, compared to the 80 million opening for the first film and the 90 million obtained by the sequel. A result that is not exactly exciting, considering also the production costs of the title of over 120 million. But the results of the domestic market appear less demoralizing if compared to the international one: currently the film is traveling over 124 million worldwide, for a total sum of 175 million.
And it cannot be ruled out that the situation could change drastically in the coming weeks, unexpectedly reviving the fortunes of the title. Precisely on the foreign front, “Venom: The Last Dance” establishes a more than satisfactory debut in our country, with over 3 million euros collected in 405 theaters and 395,928 admissions, according to data provided by Cinetel. An element that demonstrates how much the Italian public is interested in finding out how the adventures of Eddy Brock and the alien symbiote will end.
What particularly attracted the attention of fans was the inclusion in the film of the much-rumored “Knull,” the villain par excellence from the Venom stories played by the exceptional Andy Serkis. The star is also known for having directed the second film, as well as for his legendary appearances in various successful blockbusters such as the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Director Kelly Marcel spoke about the work done and the technical expedients used to bring the character to life in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
From his statements we find out the following details: «I love Andy Serkis, we all do. We knew since Venom 2 that he would be the one to play Knull if we could get him on screen. He was the only one we asked and he was so happy. He is one of the greatest voice actors in the world. Knull was done in both motion capture and CGI, and it was so cool to bring him to life together. It was like a reunion of friends. Andy and I are friends, so it was fun to spend time together creating Knull».
As for the possibility that Venom could return to play an important role in the next comic book movies, the director did not want to reveal too much for the moment: «You should ask Sony. Tom's contract is up. We were asked to do three movies, we made three and who knows what the future holds. I hope we have laid the foundation to continue with other characters, other symbiotes and villains, if they want. But this is the last for Venom and Eddie Brock».
