Venom 3 Leads Veterans Day Weekend Box Office As Heretic Chases Christmas Pageant For 2nd Place
This Veterans Day falls on a Monday and with 47% of K-12 schools and 32% of colleges out, the weekends box office had some surprises. On its third weekend, Venom: The Last Dance took $16.2M at the box office over the weekend, while two newcomers vied for second place.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever At Veterans Day Weekend Box Office
The Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company production follows six siblings with a bad reputation as they take over the local church pageant.
An adaptation of Barbara Robinson’s 1972 children’s book directed by Dallas Jenkins, the film from a Christian production house did well with audiences, scoring an “A” CinemaScore despite its modest $10 million budget.
It earned $11.2M in its opening weekend nationally from an audience that was 65% women, 10% between 13-17, 9% between 18-24 years old, 15% between 25-34 years old, and 66% over 35.
The producers advertised heavily across the heartland, and punted Christmas Pageant to faith-based leaders to spread the word to congregations.
The movie is the second-best opening for the box office after this past summer’s The Strangers: Chapter 1 at $11.8M.
Heretic At Veterans Day Weekend Box Office
Directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, A24’s Heretic is based on the experiences of two Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who knock on the door of a man (Hugh Grant) they soon regret trying to evangelize.
Audiences gave the film a “C+” CinemaScore, but with a budget under $10 million, it will turn a profit easily.
At $11M, Heretic‘s opening is just shy of Christmas Pageant but better than A24’s other genre titles Midsommar ($6.5M 3-day, $10.9M 5-day) or Maxine ($6.7M) from an audience of 55% men, 65% between 18-34, and 40% were 25-34.
U.S. and Canadian Veterans Day Comscore Weekend Box Office
The major studios opted not to put any new releases into theaters due to Tuesday’s Presidential election, and many people may have been away for the Veterans Day weekend, but the box office positions were:
| NO. | MOVIE | WEEK | NO. OF THEATRES | WEEKEND BOX OFFICE | TOTAL BOX OFFICE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Venom: The Last Dance | 3 | 3,905 | $16.2M | $114.8M |
| 2, | Best Christmas Pageant Ever | 1 | 3,020 | $11.1M | $11.1M |
| 3, | Heretic | 1 | 3,221 | $11 | $11 |
| 4, | The Wild Robot | 7 | 3,051 | $6 | $130.2M |
| 5, | Smile 2 | 4 | 2,822 | $5 | $60.5M |
| 6, | Conclave | 3 | 2,283 | $4.1M | $21.5M |
| 7, | Anora | 4 | 1,104 | $2.45M | $7.2M |
| 8, | Here | 2 | 2,732 | $2.42M | $9.5M |
| 9, | We Live In Time | 5 | 1,865 | $2,2M | $21,8M |
| 10 | Terrifier 3 | 5 | 1,563 | $2,2M | $53,3M |
The good news for moviegoers is that there are several big new releases lined up, including:
- Amazon MGM Christmas comedy “Red One” on Nov. 15.
- Paramount Pictures’ “Gladiator II” on Nov. 22.
- Universal’s “Wicked” on Nov. 22.
- Walt Disney Co.’s “Moana 2” on Nov. 27.