Why Venom: The Last Dance Blew Away The Box Office

"Venom: The Last Dance" gave this slithery Marvel Comics anti-hero a big gooey send-off that audiences around the world turned out for in solid numbers. While its $51 million domestic debut was under expectations, this Kelly Marcel directorial effort had an astonishingly strong $175 million worldwide bow. Clearly there was strong global interest in what "The Last Dance" had to offer, including audience curiosity over whether or not "The Last Dance" set up "Spider-Man 4," Sony's Spider-Verse and the future of the MCU

It's clear this final (for now) entry in the "Venom" saga was a moneymaker during its worldwide opening weekend. What's a bit more nebulous is what exactly led to this moment. After all, with these numbers standing out in a marketplace where so many superhero movies have flopped, it's worth asking whether people are really getting tired of Marvel movies.

However, "Venom: The Last Dance" had some strong factors on its side to ensure its dazzling worldwide box office numbers on opening weekend. These included Venom's popularity with global audiences, Tom Hardy's popularity as a standalone draw, a lack of other October 2024 box office hits, "The Last Dance" eschewing explicit comic book movie connections, and more. Breaking down why "Venom: The Last Dance" topped the worldwide box office makes it easy to see why so many people showed up to bid adieu to one of the most unlikely stars of a superhero movie trilogy ever. 

International audiences made The Last Dance a hit

There's no question that international moviegoers kept "Venom: The Last Dance" from being a box office disappointment. While the film's domestic bow left something to be desired, "The Last Dance" absolutely crushed it in foreign territories. With a $124 million debut internationally, this premiere was reportedly the third-biggest American movie opening of 2024 in the countries "The Last Dance" premiered in. Only "Inside Out 2" and "Deadpool & Wolverine" had better foreign launches in those same markets. That included especially massive debuts in Mexico, Korea, and India. As the icing on top, the film thrived on IMAX screens in international territories, securing the largest international IMAX debut ever in October and becoming the third-biggest IMAX overseas debut in Sony's history.

This isn't the first time the "Venom" saga shattered all expectations in terms of overseas box office prowess. Back in 2018, "Venom" defied the odds and grossed $600+ million alone internationally. Three years later, "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," opening a little over 18 months after theaters shut down over COVID-19, grossed just under $300 million overseas even without a Chinese theatrical release. Clearly, the Eddie Brock/Venom fanbase extends well beyond just American audiences. That expansive, devoted following for the slimy symbiote ensured that "The Last Dance" had an exceptional global launch even as its domestic box office numbers left something to be desired.

The Last Dance took off in China

China was arguably the most important market in the 2010s for costly American spectacles to excel in. Cut to the 2020s and that status quo has changed dramatically. Chinese moviegoers have routinely ignored the latest American blockbusters in favor of focusing on homegrown tentpoles. This phenomenon has led to several previous surefire American hits flaming out in this country, but a gigantic exception to this trend was "Venom: The Last Dance." The movie opened to a fantastic $45.9 million over its first five days of Chinese release, with only "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" having a better launch there among 2024 American movies. Astonishingly, "The Last Dance" also had a better Chinese bow than any other post-2019 American superhero film.

This launch is extra-impressive considering that "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" was one of many blockbuster movies never released in China. While the first "Venom" was a massive hit in this territory, the absence of "Carnage" from the region could have ensured that local moviegoers lost all enthusiasm for the franchise — but absence apparently only made the heart grow fonder for "Venom" in the Middle Kingdom. Sure, there's no chance "The Last Dance" comes close to matching the $262 million Chinese box office haul of the first "Venom" from six years ago. But this debut is still incredibly impressive, particularly in light of how Chinese audiences have reacted to most recent American blockbusters. In contrast to many domestic 2020s tentpoles, China was key in shaping the threequel's noteworthy worldwide opening. 

The movie promised finality

It's right there in the title: "The Last Dance." The third solo "Venom" movie was very insistent on emphasizing it was a send-off for Eddie Brock/Venom. Every aspect of the movie's promotional push lingered on this notion, right down to poster taglines like "Til death do they part" or "Experience the epic conclusion." Hammering this angle home was an immediate way to differentiate "The Last Dance" from the two previous "Venom" movies, and it also gave this installment a sense of finality that many other comic book movies no longer have. 

Modern incarnations of this subgenre typically inhabit large multimedia ecosystems full of future movie and TV show plans stretching on into the next decade. "Venom: The Last Dance," meanwhile, tried to carve out an idiosyncratic aesthetic heavily reliant on the notion that this was the end of the road for an era of Venom on the big screen. Granted, such a prolific and lucrative character won't be gone forever. Tom Hardy wasn't the first man to play Eddie Brock, and he certainly won't be the last. For now, however, "Venom: The Last Dance" promised resolution where other comic book movie promotional pushes only hinted at future sequels. That approach seems to have scored the interest of some moviegoers, particularly those in international territories. 

There was a lack of major October 2024 releases

October 2024 was supposed to belong to "Joker: Folie a Deux." As late as just one month before its release, the Todd Phillips-directed sequel was tracking to hit $100 million+ over opening weekend without breaking a sweat. Because of that impending release, Hollywood studios cleared October 2024 of other major titles that could have been squashed by the newest "Joker" movie. 

Once "Joker: Folie a Deux" bombed at the box office, however, October 2024's theatrical feature landscape went spiraling. Suddenly, the month kicked off with a massive box office dud and nothing to help compensate for its losses. Extremely gory horror sequels "Terrifier 3" and "Smile 2" could only do so much to pick up the slack. Into this domain entered "Venom: The Last Dance" over the month's final weekend.

The losses incurred by "Joker: Folie a Deux" were a mild gain for "The Last Dance," which suddenly didn't have to contend with another gargantuan comic book adaptation hogging up the market. Granted, "The Last Dance" still underwhelmed domestically even with "Joker" out of the way. But the lack of another October 2024 box office titan undoubtedly freed up "The Last Dance" to easily take the No. 1 box office spot around the globe. Plus the dearth of competition allowed "The Last Dance" to hit unexpected box office highs in key foreign countries. October 2024 was a bit of a theatrical black hole and "The Last Dance" mildly reaped some rewards from that reality. 

The Last Dance resonated with younger moviegoers

After COVID shut down theaters in March 2020, box office hits driven largely by older folks have been hard to come by. One or two have slipped through the cracks, but for the most part, movies skewing towards the 45+ crowd have resulted in box office bombs like "Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter One." Unsurprisingly, "Venom: The Last Dance" was another domestic box office chart-topper that skewed extremely young in its opening weekend. 

73% of its audience over its first three days of release were moviegoers under the age of 35, while folks between the ages of 25 and 34 made up roughly a third of its entire opening weekend. None of that is very surprising given that this was a PG-13 "Venom" title with a weird comedy streak, which doesn't sound like a recipe for luring in the "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris" crowd.

"Venom: The Last Dance," though, proved once again how integral younger viewers are to keeping movies afloat. Without those patrons under 35, "The Last Dance" would have been in much more serious trouble at the domestic box office. Meanwhile, other titles like "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour," "Five Nights at Freddy's," and "Challengers" flourished at the box office through channeling aesthetics and vibes that people under 30 could connect to. In the post-COVID theatrical landscape, youth-skewing movies are king, and "Venom: The Last Dance" reinforced that.

Tom Hardy's a bit of a box office draw

Tom Hardy has quietly cultivated enough of a solid box office reputation to help bolster the international theatrical runs of titles like "Venom: The Last Dance." Hardy's appeared in several movies throughout his career that have cleared $500 million worldwide. Among those titles are typical comic book movie blockbusters like "The Dark Knight Rises" and the first two "Venom" installments, but also in that collection are adult dramas like "The Revenant" and "Dunkirk," not to mention Christopher Nolan's original smash hit "Inception." In those latter projects, Hardy isn't aided by a CG symbiote nor is he covered in a mask for nearly the entire movie. They rely heavily on Hardy the human being, which has helped audiences around the globe associate him with acclaimed moneymakers.

Because of that financial hot streak, Hardy's got more box office reliability than many other leading men linked too closely and solely with superhero movie roles. A key reason why various Chris Hemsworth movies have bombed at the box office, for example, is that Hemsworth himself has never had much pull with general audiences outside of his "Thor" installments. Hardy, meanwhile, has several major hits beyond his "Venom" exploits. That reputation can't make every movie Hardy appears in into a box office phenomenon — just ask his other 2024 offering, "The Bikeriders" — but it did help keep "Venom: The Last Dance" above water domestically and soar at the international box office.

The Last Dance followed up two successful predecessors

As "Joker: Folie a Deux" can attest, following up lucrative blockbusters from years past is not a one-way ticket to box office success. "The Marvels" and "Terminator: Dark Fate" can also provide testimony to that brutal reality for franchise fare. However, "Venom: The Last Dance" certainly got a boost from what its predecessors accomplished. The first two "Venom" titles managed to crack a combined $1.3 billion worldwide. "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" even reached $500 million+ worldwide as one of the first superhero movies to open after COVID-19 shut down theaters. While it was a separate incarnation of the character, Venom's notoriety with moviegoers was even affirmed years earlier, thanks to the Topher Grace version of the anti-hero showing up in the worldwide 2007 smash "Spider-Man 3."

With that legacy at its back, "Venom: The Last Dance" arrived in theaters with lots of pre-existing audience familiarity to play with. People had already shelled well over $1 billion for tickets to the last two Tom Hardy "Venom" movies. Why not see one more that promised an ending to this weird trilogy? Plus, "Let There Be Carnage" and the separate project "Spider-Man: No Way Home" ended on mid-credits teases suggesting very enticing futures for Eddie Brock/Venom as a character, involving multiverses and Tom Holland's Spider-Man. With all this build-up, "Venom: The Last Dance" had far more anticipation and moviegoer goodwill to work with than many other 2024 tentpole sequels.

Venom: The Last Dance opened close to Halloween weekend

"Venom: The Last Dance" was originally set to open on July 12, 2024. That date would have put the third solo "Venom" movie in the exact same month that Sony/Columbia Pictures had previously released several solo "Spider-Man" installments, including "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Spider-Man: Homecoming." It also would have taken the "Venom" saga out of the month of October, where the two previous installments had premiered and thrived. 

However, the dual 2023 strikes ensured that "The Last Dance" could never hit that original date. Sony would later delay "The Last Dance" to fall 2024, eventually settling on October 25, 2024 as the launchpad for this title. That meant the final "Venom" installment would go out the weekend before Halloween, a timeframe where "Five Nights at Freddy's" scared up an Incredible opening weekend at the box office.

"Venom: The Last Dance" also benefited from launching over this weekend since its titular creature really seemed perfect for the spooky season. After all, October is full of ghouls and freaky costumes. What better way to celebrate that occasion than with a toothy alien known for biting the heads off adversaries? This date also gave "Venom: The Last Dance" some distance from summer 2024 juggernauts like "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "Inside Out 2." Bowing in late October 2024 was not the original plan for "The Last Dance," but it was critical for its opening weekend haul.

There are no tie-ins to other Sony Spider-Man Universe movies

Comic book movies in the 2020s have often proven impenetrable for general audiences to latch onto. MCU titles like "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" and "The Marvels" have increasingly relied on other Marvel properties to be understood, while DC movies like "The Flash" featured central plotlines touching on other films like "Man of Steel" and even 1989's "Batman." Previous Sony Spider-Man Universe installment "Morbius" featured a post-credits scene that makes even less sense than anyone thought possible

Bucking this modern trend, "Venom: The Last Dance" eschews any larger connections to other comic book movies. Save for some opening lines (cribbed from the "No Way Home" mid-credits scene) by Eddie Brock about "a purple guy who loves stones," "The Last Dance" is a deeply standalone enterprise. Anyone scouring the movie for subtle "Morbius" and "Madame Web" connections will leave the theater sorely disappointed. 

This approach had multiple advantages for "The Last Dance." For one thing, the movie was far more accessible to anyone who walked into the theater. For another, "The Last Dance" avoided getting connected to the dreadful critical reputation of Sony/Marvel properties like "Morbius" or "Madame Web." Bypassing grand comic book movie connectivity was a lavish gift for "Venom: The Last Dance" at the box office and in countless other ways.

Sony has extensive experience launching Marvel movies

All but one of the eight biggest Sony/Columbia Pictures movies ever at the domestic box office are based on Marvel Comics characters. Only "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" stands out among this crop of "Spider-Man" entries. Expanding things further, 12 of Sony/Columbia's 25 biggest movies ever domestically are based on Marvel properties. Starting with "Spider-Man" in 2002, Marvel adaptations have proven instrumental to the success of Sony/Columbia as a movie studio. Even lesser-grossing titles like "Ghost Rider" drummed up respectable business. Despite flops like "Madame Web" and "Morbius," Sony has demonstrated a dedication with Marvel movies unmatched anywhere else in Hollywood besides Disney.

With over two decades of experience releasing Marvel movies, the Sony/Columbia marketing team had no trouble getting "Venom: The Last Dance" to respectable worldwide opening weekend numbers. While it couldn't turn something like "Morbius" into the next "Guardians of the Galaxy," the company's Marvel track record can keep the momentum rolling on a hit franchise like "Venom." Heck, even duds like "Madame Web" provided important guidelines for what marketing tactics to avoid when getting audiences onboard for the final standalone "Venom" installment. The past is something you can learn and build from — it doesn't just have to be innately good or bad. That's a reality Sony/Columbia brass know very well after releasing so many Marvel features before "Venom: the Last Dance." 

Initial fan interest heavily favored The Last Dance

In its Thursday domestic box office numbers, "Venom: The Last Dance" grossed a whopping $8.5 million. While below the Thursday night hauls of the two previous "Venom" installments, it also wasn't a sharp decrease from those previous grosses. That sum immediately put "The Last Dance" on track for a promising opening weekend and ensured the existence of some early good media news to kick off the film's first frame. 

Over its entire domestic weekend, "Venom: The Last Dance" grossed $51 million. That means Thursday night numbers comprised just under 17% of that opening weekend haul. Any congratulations for "The Last Dance" on its domestic bow have to be heavily geared towards the fans who showed up on Thursday night, given how much those showings played into its opening weekend take.

Die-hard Venom fans clearly showed up as soon as possible to be among the first to see "Venom: The Last Dance" on the big screen. That demographic ensured that the film's very first piece of domestic box office news was good and that its opening day soared to $21 million. To be sure, this is a bit of a double-edged sword scenario: "Venom: The Last Dance" was much more front-loaded than its predecessors despite making significantly less than those two movies. Its harsh day-to-day holds over its opening weekend suggest it could struggle in subsequent weeks. For now, though, initial fan interest kept "The Last Dance" from tanking domestically.