To say Venom has surpassed expectations financially and been a huge hit is an understatement. Venom's domestic run is beginning to wind down now, but the symbiote is far from done filling Sony's coffers, as the movie had yet to open in the burgeoning Chinese market. Well, now it has; Venom just opened in China to a huge first day haul of $34.2 million.
Venom got off to an impressive start at the box office in the Middle Kingdom with $2.5 million from midnight preview screenings before going on to a $34.2 million Friday take. That $34.2 million is the second-biggest day ever in China for a superhero movie behind Avengers: Infinity War's $71 million. It is also the sixth biggest opening day ever in the country for an imported film, according to Forbes.
Venom's opening day performance beats out titles like Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. For comparison, Venom made $32.5 million opening day domestically.
The Friday box office sets Venom up for a massive opening weekend of around $95 million in the country. Although, depending on its legs over the Saturday-Sunday stretch and how front-loaded it is, Venom could crack the $100 million mark.
Marvel's Captain America: Civil War enjoyed a similar $30 million opening day in China before going on to a $93 million opening weekend and a $180 million overall. So that gives us some idea of how well Venom could do in the country, but it all depends on how it plays and what kind of run it has.
Venom already crossed the $500 million mark worldwide before opening in China and it should hit $565 million this weekend without counting that country's box office. Factoring in a potential $100 million opening weekend in China, that would bump Venom up to around $650 million. If it has legs and crosses $200 million in its total Chinese run, it would push Ruben Fleischer's film into the territory of $700+ million.
Venom was such a question mark going in because of the lack of Spider-Man and in the face of largely negative reviews, it has been a smashing success on a level few could have predicted, breaking records and becoming a triumph for Sony in multiple respects.
Venom has the biggest October opening ever domesticaly and it helped push Sony over $1 billion at the domestic box office. That level of success resulted in Sony scoring a massive new multi-picture deal with IMAX.
Now, thanks to the overseas market really showing up for the film, it may end up with three-quarters of a billion worldwide on its own. Perhaps Eddie Brock really can carry this Spider-Verse.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest on Sony's Spider-Verse, which is almost certainly about to kick into high gear, and be sure to check out our Holiday Movie Guide for all of the blockbusters and prestige pictures you can look forward to in the coming months.
