A24’s ‘Heretic’ Aims for $10 Million in Box Office Debut, ‘Venom 3’ Likely to Top Charts Again

“Venom: The Last Dance” may threepeat at the domestic box office despite the presence of two new nationwide releases.

A24’s horror thriller “Heretic” is targeting $8 million to $10 million from 3,200 theaters while Lionsgate’s faith-based family film “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is aiming for $6 million to $8 million from 3,000 venues in their opening weekends. Meanwhile “Venom 3” is expected to drop 40%-50% from the prior weekend, putting ticket sales at $13 million to $15 million in its third outing.

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Sony’s “Venom: The Last Dance,” the third and final installment in the Tom Hardy-led comic book trilogy, has generated $91 million in North America and $318 million to date. Though it’s falling short of other entries in the symbiote saga — 2018’s “Venom” powered to $856 million globally and 2021’s “Let There Be Carnage” ended with $506 million worldwide — this entry will be decently positioned in its theatrical run against its $120 million budget.

Box office watchers believe that “Heretic” and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” could overperform expectations thanks to word-of-mouth and an otherwise quiet marketplace. Cinema operators could use the boost. After a lackluster October, overall domestic box office revenues are down more than 11% from 2023 and nearly 27% from 2019, according to Comscore.

For the most part, major studios opted against releasing a movie around the election out of concern that people wouldn’t be paying attention to anything other than the presidential race. So, moviegoing isn’t expected to pick up in earnest until Amazon’s Christmas comedy “Red One,” with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson playing Santa’s head of security, opens on Nov. 15, followed by Paramount’s “Gladiator II” and Universal’s “Wicked” on Nov. 22, and Disney’s “Moana 2” on Nov. 27.

“Heretic,” starring Hugh Grant, and co-directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, follows two young Mormon missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who make the grave mistake of knocking on the door of a reclusive Englishman. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, with Variety’s Peter Debruge calling the R-rated film an “entertaining ride” and praising Grant for playing chillingly against type as a diabolical pedagogue. In his review, Debruge writes that “nothing he’s done before quite prepares us for what he’s capable of here.”

A very different kind of religious parable, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” centers on the six Herdman siblings, who have a reputation for being the worst kids in town. When they take over the local church pageant, they just may learn the true meaning of Christmas. Dallas Jenkins (“The Chosen”) directed the feel-good film, which stars Judy Greer, Pete Holmes and Lauren Graham.

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