Weekend Box Office: ‘Venom 3’ takes the win again as awards contenders ‘Conclave,’ ‘Anora’ continue to impress

“Venom: The Last Dance” topped the box office for the third consecutive weekend, while the faith-based Christmas comedy “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” led all newcomers during another slow frame at local theaters.

According to Sunday estimates, “Venom 3” grossed $16.2 million over the weekend, good for $114.8 million in North America since its debut last month. The final entry in the Tom Hardy Spider-man spin-off franchise has grossed close to $400 million worldwide so far and has at least another weekend to grab significant cash from mainstream moviegoers before “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” hit theaters on November 22.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” was the runner-up film according to estimates, with $11.1 million. Released by Lionsgate, the film stars Judy Greer and Lauren Graham and focuses on a family of juvenile delinquent siblings who wind up starring in the town Christmas pageant. Its based on the book by Barbara Robinson. 

In third place was A24’s “Heretic” with $11 million. The thriller with elevated horror elements from filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods stars Hugh Grant as a sadistic homeowner who takes two Mormon missionaries (played by Chloe East and Sophie Thatcher) hostage during a winter storm and tries to convince them organized religion is a fraud. Grant has earned strong reviews for his performance and could find himself among this year’s Golden Globe Award nominees for Best Drama Actor.

“This is a very good opening for an original horror film,” David A. Gross from the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research told Variety about the “Heretic” opening. “2024 isn’t the strongest year at the box office, but the horror genre is alive and fully engaging its young audience.”

Fourth place went to “The Wild Robot” with $6.7 million, pushing the domestic total for the DreamWorks Animation production to more than $130 million. The Chris Sanders film, one of the year’s most beloved features, is an expected awards player in several Oscar categories including Best Animated Feature, Best Score, and Best Song. (It’s available on VOD now, but the film remains the top choice for young families – likely at least until “Moana 2” on November 27.)

Rounding out the top five was “Smile 2” with $5 million, pushing its domestic gross to more than $60 million. It remains well off the pace of the original film, which earned more than $100 million in North America in 2022.

On the awards contenders front, “Conclave” remains the breakout boutique hit of the season. The Focus Features release added another $4.1 million to the collection dish and has grossed $21 million in total. The film from Edward Berger is expected to receive several Oscar nominations next year, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Ralph Fiennes.

“Anora,” another top Best Picture contender, finished in seventh place at the box office with $2.5 million in ticket sales, pushing its domestic total to $7.2 million. The film is already in the top 15 for Neon releases at the worldwide box office.

In eighth place was Robert Zemeckis’s “Here,” which dipped more than 50 percent from its underwhelming opening to $2.4 million. The film starring Tom Hanks and Robin Wright has earned under $10 million so far, a disappointment despite artistically being arguably Zemeckis’s best movie in more than a decade.

Ninth place went to “We Live in Time,” with $2.2 million. The A24 drama has been a steady hit this fall for the studio with $21.8 million in total domestic gross.

Tenth place went to “Terrifer 3,” the grotesque horror movie with no rating due to its violent content. The film earned $1.5 million to push its North American tally to above $53 million.

Next week, the Amazon holiday movie “Red One” with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Chris Evans debuts. But the following week, the holiday box office ignites in earnest with “Wicked” and “Gladiator II.”