In another quiet weekend at the box office, Sony/Columbia’s “Venom: The Last Dance” moves into first place in its third weekend with nearly $15 million, ahead of newcomers A24’s “Heretic” and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” from Lionsgate and Kingdom. Story Company.
“The Last Dance” grossed $3.9 million on its third Friday and is expected to bring its domestic total to $112.5 million, ultimately finishing with a lower domestic and global total than the last two “Venom” films, but still profitable theatrically against its $120 million budget.
“Heretic” and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” vie for second place. At the moment, “Pageant” is in the lead with a $5 million opening in 3020 locations, putting it on track for a $10.7 million opening against a $20 million budget.
A Family Christmas is gearing up for a steady run in theaters, earning a CinemaScore award from Kingdom Story Company’s loyal audience along with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 89% from critics and 99% from audiences.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a much-needed success for Lionsgate, breaking a string of failures that contributed to a quarterly loss of $163 million. Not only is the weekend opening set to be higher than Lionsgate’s hugely successful Borderlands, but it’s also the first studio film since May’s The Strangers – Chapter 1 to make more than $10 million in its debut.
“Heretic” grossed $4.3 million on its opening day in 3,211 theaters, which also put it on track for $10 million in revenue. With a lower production budget, this provocative horror film starring Hugh Grant will be a success even if it ends up being predictable, with critics praising the film with a 92% RT score, while audiences are more mixed with a C+ on CinemaScore and a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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