'Venom' Poised to Set October Opening Weekend Record With $63 Million

Box office trackers have high expectations for Sony's Spidey spinoff "Venom," with the first round of tracking projecting an opening weekend of $57-63 million. That would be a new opening record for October, topping the $55.8 million made by Alfonso Cuaron's 2013 Oscar winner "Gravity."

While such a result would be low compared to recent Marvel and DC superhero films, Sony is also keeping costs relatively low as well with a net production budget of $100 million, well below the $150 million-plus budgets for MCU films. That budget was also financed in part by Chinese conglomerate Tencent, lowering Sony's costs.

Also Read: 'The Nun' Got a Big Box Office Boost From Latinos

With Spider-Man back on the big screen, thanks to Columbia's partnership with Marvel Studios, Sony is trying to capitalize on interest in the web slinger by unveiling a series of spinoffs set within Spidey's world, albeit separate from the MCU timeline and produced without Marvel Studios. "Venom," a more adult-aimed look at Spidey's evil counterpart and occasional antihero, is the first of these projects. In December, the animated film "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" will be released with the hopes of reaching out to family audiences.

While "Venom" reaches out to comic book fans, Warner Bros. will reach out to prestige audiences with Bradley Cooper's directorial debut "A Star Is Born." A modern retelling of the classic 1937 William Wellman film that has been remade twice before in the intervening decades, this film has earned critical acclaim in Venice and Toronto and is expected to receive heavy Oscar consideration for both Cooper and co-star Lady Gaga. It's also expected to have a strong showing as an adult alternative at theaters, with early projections setting it to open in the $25-30 million range.

Also Read: This Weekend's Box Office Showdown: 'Nun' vs 'Predator'

October is shaping up to be smaller-scale repeat of the success that movie theaters enjoyed this summer, with a diverse slate, including "The Hate U Give," "First Man," and "Halloween," and several highly-anticipated films combining to cast a wide net over the moviegoing populace's many interests.

"A release slate that has something for everyone is way healthier for the box office than one that just swings from one seasonal tentpole to the next," comScore's Paul Dergarabedian recently told TheWrap. "If you can't find a film right now that piques your interest, you're just not looking hard enough."

'A Star Is Born' vs 'Venom' and 5 More of Fall's 6 Biggest Box Office Showdowns (Photos)

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Aquaman” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are expected to dominate the box office this fall. But there are other films vying for moviegoers' attention -- ones that are set to debut to some steep competition. Here are six head-to-head box office showdowns to look out for this fall.
MGM/Disney/Paramount/Twentieth Century Fox
Oct. 5: "A Star Is Born" vs. "Venom"

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga facing off against a superhero entry is going to be an interesting battle -- while the former is an indie with A-list stars atop the bill, the latter is a highly-anticipated comic book character debut from a major studio.
MGM/Sony
Oct. 12: "First Man" vs. "Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween"

Everyone is anticipating Damien Chazelle’s followup to “La La Land,” especially now that film that puts Ryan Gosling in space is generating early buzz. “Goosebumps,” of course, is already an established franchise based on the children’s book series of the same name by R.L. Stine. The first film, which was released in 2015, had a $23 million opening.
DreamWorks/Columbia Pictures Corporation
Nov. 2: "Bohemian Rhapsody" vs. "Nobody’s Fool" vs. "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms"

“Bohemian Rhapsody” is quickly shaping up to be many people’s most anticipated fall movie, as it chronicles the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (played by Rami Malek). The film hit some road bumps when Sacha Baron Cohen, originally cast as Mercury, exited the project. Director Joss Whedon also departed the rocker biopic. Now, it's set to face off against Disney’s big-budget film “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” along with Tyler Perry’s “Nobody’s Fool.”
New Regency/Paramount Players/Disney
Nov. 9: "Overlord" vs. "The Girl in the Spider’s Web" vs. "The Grinch"

“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” is a long-awaited sequel to “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” which starred Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. That one grossed $232 million at the global box office. Claire Foy is taking over seven years later. But fans love their “Grinch” (2000's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" earned $345.1 million worldwide) and J.J. Abrams has established a “Cloverfield” fandom as well (although he has said “Overlord” is not part of the “Cloverfield” franchise). "Cloverfield" and "10 Cloverfield Lane" earned $170.8 million and $110.2 million worldwide, respectively.
Paramount/Universal/MGM
Nov. 22: "Creed II" vs. "Ralph Breaks the Internet"

"Creed" came out punching at the box office in 2015, earning $173 million worldwide. So, naturally, the sequel could prove a worthy adversary for "Ralph Breaks the Internet." Its predecessor, "Wreck-It Ralph" grossed $471 million globally, and was nominated for an Oscar.
MGM/Disney
Dec. 21: "Aquaman" vs. "Bumblebee" vs. "Alita: Battle Angel"

“Aquaman” has the backing of extremely devout DC fans, but “Bumblebee” will attract “Transformers” fans, who have brought the whole franchise up to $1.4 billion domestically. Both films are set to make some serious cash. “Alita: Battle Angel” is based on Yukito’s Kishiro’s manga “Battle Angel Alita,” is produced by James Cameron, and has a stellar cast.
Warner Bros./Paramount/Twentieth Century Fox

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Fall Movie Preview 2018: These 15 films have a tough battle to box office glory

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “Aquaman” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are expected to dominate the box office this fall. But there are other films vying for moviegoers' attention -- ones that are set to debut to some steep competition. Here are six head-to-head box office showdowns to look out for this fall.

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'A Star Is Born' vs 'Venom' and 5 More of Fall's 6 Biggest Box Office Showdowns (Photos)

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