‘Venom: The Last Dance’ struts to $51 million debut

Venom: The Last Dance debuted with an estimated $51 million at the domestic box office — nearly $15 million below expectations.

The third and final chapter of the Venom trilogy, starring Tom Hardy as the titular alien symbiote, also opened much lower than its predecessors, 2018’s Venom and 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage, with $80 million and $90 million, respectively.

The news was much better overseas, where The Last Dance grabbed an estimated $124 million, bringing its global tally to a respectable $175 million.

Smile 2 finished in second place, earning an estimated $9.4 million at the North American box office, for a two-week total of $40.7 million and $83.7 million worldwide.

Third place was a dead heat between Conclave, the new mystery thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, and the animated adventure The Wild Robot, each earning an estimated $6.5 million. The Wild Robot, in its fifth week of release, has grossed $111.4 million domestically and $232.3 million globally.

We Live in Time took fourth place with an estimated $4.8 million, bringing its three-week North American tally to $11.8 million and $12.4 million worldwide.

Rounding out the top five was Terrifier 3, which delivered $4.3 million, bringing its three-week domestic total to $43.1 million. The film has collected $53 million globally.