Despite falling well short of the mark critically, Venom has performed admirably at the box office, with audiences going in for the goofy comic book flick. This is a definite win for the film itself, the future of the Spider-verse and of course Sony. After its second weekend at the top of the box office, Venom has just helped push Sony over the $1 billion mark at the domestic box office on the year.
Sony entered the three-comma club over the weekend on the strength of Venom's $35.7 million second weekend and the $16.2 million debut of Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, according to Deadline. This is two months sooner than the studio crossed that $1 billion mark last year and the second time Sony has enjoyed the distinction since 2014.
Venom earned $142.8 million through its first 10 days, representing a healthy chunk of Sony's $1 billion 2018 domestic total. It is not, however, the biggest chunk. That honor actually goes to 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which obliterated expectations and enjoyed success in early 2018 with $235.5 million at the domestic box office.
Other notable contributors alongside the symbiote and The Rock are a pair of kids movies, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation and Peter Rabbit with $166.7 million and $115.2 million, respectively. The Equalizer 2 also helped Sony along the way with $102 million. After that, Sony had a whole host of movies that haven't crossed $100 million domestically, but all added up to help the studio achieve $1 billion.
Sony now joins three other major studios to have crossed the $1 billion milestone this year. Disney liked $1 billion so much it did it twice and has over $2.75 billion this year so far. Trailing after the Mouse House are Warner Bros. with $1.3 billion and Universal with over $1.2 billion.
What's especially impressive about Sony's $1 billion box office is that this year the studio did it without Spider-Man proper. Even with Spider-Man: Homecoming, which came out in July of 2017, it took longer for Sony to cross the $1 billion mark. So this speaks to the performance and variety of Sony's slate this year, as well as the viability of a Spider-Man character other than the Web-Slinger himself.
Sony won't have to settle for $1 billion either; the studio has a few other big and potentially lucrative titles heading to the big screen the rest of the year. The Girl in the Spider's Web releases in November, and its 2011 predecessor The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo earned $102.5 million at the domestic box office (albeit with a different director and stars). Also on the way for Sony is the Step Brothers reunion of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly in Holmes & Watson and the positively spectacular-looking Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
To see all of the biggest movies heading to theaters this fall from every studio, check out our 2018 release schedule.
