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After a year-and-a-half of box office uncertainty, the return of the movie business seems to be well and truly here, as two massive yet wildly different blockbusters, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and No Time To Die, are setting all sorts of box office records.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which had shifted its release date a handful of times and was even rumored to be moving into 2022, ultimately kept its October 1 release date and was rewarded as a result. According to reports, the film grossed $90.1 million at the domestic box office over the weekend, which marks the biggest take for a pandemic-era film and second-biggest opening in October, trailing only 2019’s Joker.
Meanwhile, although No Time To Die won’t hit theaters in the United States until Friday, it’s already smashing all sorts of records across the pond:
No Time to Die, which received its world public premiere in the UK at midnight on Wednesday, has also broken international pandemic box office records, making $119m (£88m) in the 54 markets where the film has launched to date.
This makes it the first title from a Hollywood studio to crack $100m without opening in China, the world’s second-biggest movie market, since the pandemic began more than 18 months ago. [via The Guardian]
There’s simply no other way of putting it: these box office returns are an excellent sign for a blockbuster film slate that’s absolutely stacked from now until the end of the year. Short of an unforeseen variant breakout, it’s sure looking like Hollywood in-theater releases are finally back and here to stay.
REVIEW: ‘No Time To Die’ Is Just A Solid Movie But An Excellent James Bond Adventure
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