Venom: The Last Dance’ Sinks Fangs Into U.K., Ireland Box Office Throne

By Naman Ramachandran

According To The variety Sony’s “Venom: The Last Dance” dominated the U.K. and Ireland box office with a £4.3 million ($5.6 million) debut weekend, according to numbers from Comscore.

Universal’s animated feature “The Wild Robot” maintained momentum in week two with £1.9 million for a £6.4 million cume. Also in its sophomore session, Paramount’s horror sequel “Smile 2” took third with £1 million, reaching a £4 million total.

Three weeks into release, “Transformers One” from Paramount secured fourth place with £377,581 (cume: £3.4 million), while Studiocanal’s “The Apprentice” completed its second week in the top five with £372,778 for a £1.5 million total.

Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” displayed remarkable staying power in its eighth week, adding £367,938 to reach £25.3 million. Horror entry “Terrifier 3” from Signature Entertainment held seventh in its third week with £269,971 (cume: £2.8 million). Newcomer “The Room Next Door” (Warner Bros.) debuted at eighth with £239,043. Mubi’s “The Substance,” in its sixth week, added £150,604 for a £3.4 million total, while Warner Bros.’ “Joker: Folie A Deux” reached £10.1 million in week four after collecting £144,712 in 10th place.

Thursday, Oct. 31 sees the release of Telugu-language Indian film “Lucky Baskhar” from Dreamz Entertainment, headlined by Dulquer Salmaan.

A robust slate arrives this Friday, led by Clint Eastwood’s courthouse drama “Juror #2” (Warner Bros.) starring Zoey Deutch, Nicholas Hoult and J.K. Simmons. Universal presents “Anora,” featuring Mikey Madison in Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner.

Entertainment Film Distributors brings Hugh Grant-starrer “Heretic,” while Lionsgate debuts “Small Things Like These” with Cillian Murphy. Family audiences get Altitude’s animated “SuperKlaus,” and Warner Bros. launches documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story.”

Apple Original Films is opening Steve McQueen’s WWII-set “Blitz,” starring Saoirse Ronan, while Anime Ltd is bowing “Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color.”

Nov. 1 is Diwali, the Indian festival of lights and two big Bollywood films filled with a galaxy of stars open on the day, both continuing successful franchises. AA Films U.K. is opening horror-comedy “Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3,” starring Kartik Aaryan, Triptii Dimri, Madhuri Dixit and Vidya Balan. And Moviegoers Entertainment, Rohit Shetty’s cop universe film “Singham Again,” starring Ajay Devgn, Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Akshay Jumar and Tiger Shroff.

Enigma Releasing is opening war thriller “The Last Front” and Jade Films Cyprus partition documentary “The Divided Island.”

Lionsgate is releasing the 20th anniversary 4K restoration of “Saw” and Park Circus the 4K restoration of 1946 film “Gilda.”