The latest installment in Columbia Pictures‘ Tom Hardy-led Venom franchise now has an official title and an earlier release date.
Director Kelly Marcel‘s Venom: The Last Dance hits theaters Oct. 25, Sony announced Tuesday. Starring Hardy, Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor, the film had been untitled and moves up two weeks from its previous release date of Nov. 8.
In addition to helming the feature, Marcel also wrote the script, with the story credited to herself and Hardy. Hardy, Marcel, Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal and Hutch Parker serve as producers.
Hardy returns as the Marvel antagonist that he originated in 2018’s Ruben Fleischer-directed Venom. Andy Serkis took over directing duties on the 2021 follow-up Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Marcel is making her feature directorial debut after earning writing credits on both earlier movies.
This will now be the third Venom film to hit theaters in October, and the pre-Halloween space has worked out nicely for the franchise. The first movie surpassed $850 million globally, while the sequel crossed the $500 million mark worldwide.
Hardy took to Instagram in November to announce that the film, billed as the final one in the series, had resumed production after taking a break due to last year’s actors strike. The project had initially been planned for a June 2024 release but was later moved to November on account of the labor stoppage.
In his November post, Hardy referred to the film as the “last dance” and added that the work “doesn’t feel as hard when you love what you do and when you know you have great material and the support at all sides, of a great team.”
Venom: The Last Dance is the latest title in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters. It follows Sony’s release of Madame Web, which stars Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney and has underperformed since hitting theaters last month.
