“Venom” will be returning to do horrible things to bad guys a little bit later than originally planned. Following the end of the actors’ strike on Wednesday, Sony announced that the film is going back into production and will now come out Nov. 8, 2024, 4 months after its original July release date.
The film series is based on characters — sentient alien parasites called “Symbiotes” — that debuted in various “Spider-Man” comics. “Venom” and its sequels is part of what the study has been called “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe,” featuring characters and concepts that were included when Sony bought the rights to the Marvel Comics webslinger. Unlike Tom Holland’s version of Spider-Man, they’re not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though “Venom” star Tom Hardy made a cameo in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
The move takes “Venom 3” out of competition with whichever blockbusters end up coming out next summer, but it lands it firmly in familiar territor, as the first two “Venom” films opened in October.
The first “Venom” was one of highest-grossing films of 2018, clocking $856 million worldwide. A lot of that came from China, making it rather unlikely “Venom 3” will match that total — since China has largely turned away from Hollywood productions in recent years.
Instead, the target for “Venom 3” is $506.8 million, the global total of its 2021 predecessor “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which opened in the fall just as the box office recovered from the pandemic shutdown. Kelly Marcel, who wrote the first two “Venom” films, makes her directorial debut with “Venom 3.” Star Tom Hardy is also expected to return.
More to come…