'Venom' dances on, again leading N.America box office

LOS ANGELES, United States — "Venom: the Last Dance", starring Tom Hardy as the titular anti-hero, held tight to the top spot in North American theaters with an estimated weekend haul of $26.1 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday.

Though it has had a weaker opening than either of its two "Venom" predecessors, it has grossed a respectable $90 million domestically and $227 million internationally in its two weeks out.

Meanwhile, the Universal and DreamWorks Animation film "The Wild Robot", a family-friendly yarn about a mechanical creature having to share a remote island with fuzzy animals, actually rose in its sixth weekend out, gaining two spots to second place while taking in $7.6 million.

Paramount's horror film "Smile 2", with Naomi Scott playing a pop star afflicted by a grim curse, slipped slightly to third, with ticket sales estimated at $6.8 million for the post-Halloween Friday-through-Sunday period.

Also down one spot, to fourth place, was religious thriller "Conclave" from FilmNation, at $5.3 million. Ralph Fiennes, playing a cardinal called on to "manage" the election of a new pope, finds himself caught in a web of unseemly ambition and shadowy intrigue that has drawn Oscar buzz.

But a much-talked-about new film from Miramax and Sony, fantasy drama "Here" from "Forrest Gump" director Robert Zemeckis, performed below analysts' expectations, placing fifth with just $5 million.

It uses AI technology to "de-age" Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, as part of an ambitious epic, set in a single location, that spans from the dinosaur age to the present.

That was "a weak opening for an original drama," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

"To work, this kind of story needs to connect emotionally and powerfully," he said, adding that critics' reviews and audiences' reactions show that this film doesn't.

With a production budget of close to $50 million, the film "release will end in red ink", Gross said.