AceShowbiz - "Venom: The Last Dance" opens at No. 1 at the box office following its debut. Despite that, the Tom Hardy-starring movie, which marks the third and final entry of the antihero's story in Sony, shows lack of bite as it falls short of fans' expectations.

"Venom 3" opens to a disappointing $51M on 4,131 screens for a Per Screen Average of $12,346. The number are far behind projections of $65 million and much lower than the precedents. 2018's "Venom" opened to $80 million, while 2021's "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" grossed pandemic record $90 million in its first week.

Despite the bad performance in the domestic market, "Venom 3" shows its strong popularity among international audiences. The "Spider-Man" spin-off has feasted on $124 million overseas for a global start of $175 million.

"Moviegoing is falling back into its sunken state. 'Joker 2' left a hole, and 'Venom 3' is not filling it," says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. "There's little momentum right now."

Back to the new Box Office chart, "Smile 2" took the No. 2 spot in its second week with $9.4 million gross, bringing its domestic cume to $40.7 million so far. "Conclave", meanwhile, opens at No. 3 with $6.5 million from 1,753 theaters. The movie follows Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) as he's tasked with running the covert process of selecting the next Pope after the unexpected death of the current one.

On the other hand, Universal and DreamWorks Animation's "The Wild Robot" falls to No. 4 after gaining $6.5 million in its fifth weekend of release. Following it up at No. 5 is A24's weepy romantic drama "We Live in Time" that earns $4.8 million while expanding to 1,939 theaters.

"Terrifier 3" drops to No. 6 with a little under $5 million, adding to its nearly $46 million total gross. With $3.23 million, "Bettlejuice Bettlejuice" falls to No. 7. "Anora", which was previously at No. 18, takes over the No. 8 spot with $867,142.

Rounding out the Top 10 are "Piece by Piece" and "Transformers One". "Piece by Piece" is at No. 9 with $720,110. As for "Transformers One", it is at No. 10 after earning an additional $720,000 this weekend.

Top 10 of North American Box Office (Oct. 25-27, 2024):

1. "Venom: The Last Dance" - $51 million
2. "Smile 2" - $9.4 million
3. "Conclave" - $6.5 million
4. "The Wild Robot" - $6.5 million
5. "We Live in Time" - $4.8 million
6. "Terrifier 3" - $4.8 million
7. "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" - $3.2 million
8. "Anora" - $867,142
9. "Piece by Piece" - $720,110
10. "Transformers One" - $720,000