Sony's Venom Has The Biggest Opening Weekend For Any October Movie Ever

Sony's Venom shattered October's record for highest grossing opening weekend. The previous record was held by 2013's Gravity, which debuted to $55.7 million domestic.

Venom earned $80 million domestic, which is well past Deadline's projected $65 million estimate. A Star Is Born reached second place with an opening weekend of $41.25 million. Both movies have done better than original projections, although Venom's low scoring amongst critics might stop it from having a good follow-up weekend.

The award for October's highest earning Thursday night preview also belongs to Venom, as the film earned $10 million in its first night. That's a whole $2 million above the last movie to hold the title, 2011's Paranormal Activity 3, and over double what A Star Is Born made in its Thursday night preview--which was about $4.55 million. Venom has had one of the best opening weekends amongst superhero movies in recent years, topping Doctor Strange, Wonder Woman, and Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Venom is a reimagining of Eddie Brock and the symbiote's meeting, where Peter Parker was never a part of the equation. Eddie, played by Tom Hardy, is an investigative journalist who accidentally stumbles into bonding with an alien symbiote, who's also voiced by Tom Hardy, that comes with its own personality and a useful collection of super-human abilities. Eddie tells the symbiote it can stay, but only if the two aim their violent impulses towards the criminal element, leading the two to become the anti-hero known as Venom.

In our Venom review, Michael Rougeau wrote, "Venom has all the ingredients of a decent superhero movie--10 or 15 years ago. With spotty CGI, poorly drawn characters, tonal inconsistency including forced 'edginess' and awkward humor, sidelined female characters, and even cringeworthy licensed musical cues, it feels like a relic from the distant, pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe past. That may in part be attributed to the fact that it's been in production in one form or another since at least 2008. But its problems go way past simply being 'old school,' and ultimately, Venom lacks the charm, clarity, and ambition superhero fans have come to expect."