Venom, The Last Dance hits N123.6million in Nigerian Cinemas

The Hollywood thriller Venom: The Last Dance has recently crossed the notable N100 million milestone in Nigerian cinemas, amassing a total of N123.6 million.

The film made its debut in Nigeria with a strong N77 million, including earnings from its advanced screenings, and went on to add N117 million between October 25 and October 31, 2024. This performance has positioned Venom: The Last Dance firmly at the top of Nigeria’s box office rankings.

As of last week, Venom: The Last Dance outperformed its predecessor, Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), with 14,369 tickets sold on its opening weekend compared to the previous film’s 13,906 tickets.

Globally, Venom: The Last Dance entered theatres with a substantial production budget of $120 million and has faced a mixed reception.

The film’s second weekend saw a considerable drop in North American ticket sales, with a projected $19 million for the weekend following a lukewarm $5 million Friday — marking a 63% decline from its debut.

Despite this, the threequel’s domestic gross has reached $82.9 million, bolstered by unexpectedly strong performances on the Tuesday and Halloween dates of the preceding week.

What we know

While Venom: The Last Dance stands as Sony’s latest addition to its Marvel lineup, it has not garnered the level of word-of-mouth support typically needed to surpass box office expectations.

• As of the latest reports, the film has achieved a global cumulative of $184 million.

• Despite the momentum, it remains distant from the franchise highs set by the original Venom (which reached $856 million) and its follow-up, Venom: Let There Be Carnage (at $506 million).

• Nonetheless, it took only a single week for The Last Dance to exceed the total global earnings of both Morbius ($167 million) and Madame Web ($100 million), two recent releases under the Sony/Marvel banner that failed to captivate audiences.

On the competition front, Venom: The Last Dance faces minimal domestic challenges, with Robert Zemeckis’ Here projected to earn only $5 million, holding a distant second.

This limited competition could enable the Venom threequel to consolidate its position in the market, despite tepid reviews and lukewarm fan reception that reflect a challenging period for Sony’s Marvel lineup.

With Kraven the Hunter slated as Sony’s next major release, the studio may need to recalibrate its strategy to reinvigorate its Marvel properties and rebuild consumer enthusiasm in the genre.

As the franchise’s future evolves, industry analysts and cinema-goers alike will be watching closely to see if Venom’s latest instalment can sustain its momentum in the coming weeks.