Few cinematic universes have been hit harder by the writers and actors strikes that are now, mercifully, behind us than the one Sony has built out of their rights to produce Spider-Man movies. They previously shifted back their Kraven the Hunter movie — which should have already been released in theaters according to the company’s original schedule — to the end of August 2024.
Now Kraven’s associate Venom’s getting the same treatment. Originally planned for release next summer, the third Venom film, starring Tom Hardy as the symbiotic Spider-Man adversary, will instead premiere in November of 2024. Hey, right in the middle of awards season! For Your Consideration: Venom for Best Symbiotic Alien Goo.
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Venom: Let There Be Carnage opened in theaters in the fall of 2021, and wound up grossing more than $500 million worldwide. That sounds like a lot, but that was down significantly from the first Venom, which grossed over $850 million in theaters in 2018. The lower box office was accompanied by much weaker reviews from critics. Our own review here at ScreenCrush said…
It’s possible that the action scenes look so bad because things had to be cut and obscured to secure Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s PG-13 rating. (The lack of subplots or character motivations could also be collateral damage of all the trims.) But this is a movie about two sadistic aliens who murder people and eat their brains for kicks. Carnage creates knives, spears, and axes out of his symbiote slime and uses them to stab, maim, and decapitate people. Why is a movie about that guy rated PG-13 in the first place? If you can’t show the true nature of these characters, maybe you shouldn’t make the movie at all.
Despite the outstanding dual performance from Hardy as Venom, neither of the first two movies have been all that great. Perhaps the third time will be the charm for this franchise? Venom 3 will now open in theaters (hopefully) on November 8, 2024.
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