Theater counts: Red One ends Venom’s reign, taking off in 4,032 theaters

November 14, 2024

After three weeks of dominating the box office, Venom: The Last Dance will take a backseat as this weekend’s newcomer takes center stage. While the third installment has yet to be as successful as its predecessors, it has nevertheless added over $400 million globally to the Venom franchise, propelling it to $1.76 billion across three films, with $406.44 million coming from the latest feature.

Taking the top spot this weekend is Red One, the latest holiday action-comedy starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Beginning its run in 4,032 locations, the movie follows an E.L.F. (Extremely Large and Formidable) operative who must partner with the world’s most accomplished tracker to find Santa after a formidable villain kidnaps him. The film reunites Johnson with director Jake Kasdan, who helmed both 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle as well as the follow-up, 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level. The film co-stars Hollywood veterans J.K. Simmons, Lucy Liu, and Chris Evans.

Expanding from 12 theaters last weekend to 1,185 this weekend is the comedy-drama, A Real Pain, starring Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg, with the latter also directing the feature. The film follows mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The movie opened in five locations on November 1st before adding seven last weekend, for a total domestic haul of $716,302, while crossing the $1 million mark globally after securing over $300,000 from overseas play.

Rounding out the top five this weekend is the aforementioned Venom: The Last Dance, still widely available in 3,421 movie houses. Occupying third place is Heretic, adding nine venues from its opening weekend for a total of 3,230 this week. Next up is another of last weekend’s newcomers in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, retaining its debut count of 3,020. Lastly, entering its eighth weekend at the domestic box office is The Wild Robot, landing in a still respectable 2,894 cinemas.

Next weekend looks to be a moviegoer’s delight with the debut of three new wide releases, surely to fit nearly every cinephile’s taste. Expected to make its way into approximately 3,500 locations is Gladiator II. The film is a sequel to 2000’s Gladiator, which was also directed by Ridley Scott, who returns for the follow-up. Also opening next weekend is the long-awaited release of Wicked, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. The musical fantasy film set in the Land of Oz is projected to fly into approximately 3,800 theaters. Lastly, World War II political thriller, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin, will make its cinematic debut.

Filed under: Theater Counts, Venom, Gladiator, Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg, Chris Evans, Dwayne Johnson, Lucy Alexis Liu, Ridley Scott, J.K. Simmons, Jake Kasdan, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo