Georgia’s film industry continues to dominate the box office.
Last week, Kevin Hart’s Atlanta-filmed Night School won the top spot in the box office. Now, Georgia-filmed Venom dominates the box office with an $80 million opening. Variety is reporting that Tom Hardy’s Venom is on track to earn $80 million in its opening weekend. That number beets initial projects of the film earning $55 to $70 million once it opened in 4,250 locations nationwide. After setting the record for October early screenings on Thursday, Venom will most likely have the highest October opening in box office history as well as the seventh highest opening of 2018 by the end of the weekend. The previous record-holder for October was Gravity, which made $55.7 million during its opening weekend in 2013.
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Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s remake of A Star is Born made a total of an estimated $43 to $44 million. Rounding out the top three movies is Warner Animation’s Smallfoot, which made $14 million in its eight-day theatrical run. The Hollywood Reporters points out Venom’s box office earnings could surpass that of Marvel Studios’ most recent movie release, Ant-Man and the Wasp, which opened to $75 million in July. This is good news for Sony executives, whose plans for their own version of a cinematic universe depended on the success of Venom’s movie release. The news definitely hits back at the film’s critical response. Venom has a disappointing 31% score on Rotten Tomatoes. however, the audience score sits at 89% and has a Cinemascore of B+. What will this mean for Georgia’s film industry? Following the success of Marvel’s Ant-Man, Disney executives invested in Georgia’s film industry with several superhero movies filming in the Peach State including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Black Panther, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Avengers: Infinity War. It remains to be seen if Sony executives will follow in Marvel’s footsteps. Related: