'Venom 3' leads box office again, A24's 'Heretic' scares up $11 million debut in sleepy weekend
“Venom: The Last Dance” is looming over the domestic box office in its third weekend of release.
“Venom: The Last Dance” is looming over the domestic box office in its third weekend of release. The third and final installment in Sony’s comic book trilogy has added $16.2 million from 3,905 North American theaters, down 37% from the prior frame and enough to lead over two newcomers, A24’s horror thriller “Heretic” and Lionsgate’s family friendly “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.”
Although those new releases weren’t able to topple “Venom 3” from No. 1, they opened on the higher end of expectations, thanks to word-of-mouth and the otherwise desolate movie theater landscape. Hollywood mostly avoided the post-election weekend out of concern that people wouldn’t be paying attention to anything other than the presidential race. As a result, overall domestic box office revenues remain down more than 11% from 2023 and nearly 27% from 2019, according to Comscore.
“Heretic,” featuring “Notting Hill” star Hugh Grant playing against type as a villain, notched third place with $11 million from 3,221 venues. The cat-and-mouse thriller follows two young Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who make the grave mistake of knocking on the door of a reclusive Englishman (Grant). Critics dug the film, which holds a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and its “C+” grade on CinemaScore isn’t all that surprising for a horror story with a divisive ending.
“This is a very good opening for an original horror film,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “2024 isn’t the strongest year at the box office, but the horror genre is alive and fully engaging its young audience.”
A very different kind of religious parable, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” opened at No. 2 with $11.1 million from 3,020 locations. However, this number is skewed because it includes $2.2 million from last week’s one-night-only sneak preview screening. The low-budget, faith-based film about six naughty siblings who take over the local church holiday pageant and learn the true meaning of Christmas has been roundly embraced by critics and audiences. “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” directed by Dallas Jenkins (“The Chosen”) and starring Judy Greer, Pete Holmes and Lauren Graham, received an 89% average on Rotten Tomatoes and “A” grade on CinemaScore.
Rating: 5