Box Office: Tom Hanks and Robin Wright’s ‘Here’ Fizzles With $5 Million as ‘Venom 3’ Rules Again
“Venom: The Last Dance” topped the box office again as newcomer “Here,” a fantasy drama that uses AI so Tom Hanks and Robin Wright can play younger (and older) versions of themselves, fizzled in its debut.
“Here,” which was produced and financed by Miramax and distributed by Sony, opened in fifth place with $5 million from 2,647 North American theaters. The film, which reunites the “Forrest Gump” co-stars with their director Robert Zemeckis, follows the inhabitants of a single house over the course of 100 years — allowing Hanks and Wright to portray teenagers and octogenarians across 105 minutes thanks to de-aging technology. Critics and audiences rejected the movie with a 36% on Rotten Tomatoes and “B-” grade on CinemaScore. So, word-of-mouth may not help bolster attention for “Here” in its box office run. The movie cost $45 million and needs a long life in theaters to justify that price tag.
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“This is a weak opening for an original drama,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “To work, this kind of story needs to connect emotionally and powerfully. In this case, the audience isn’t moved on that level and there isn’t enough to recommend.”
Hanks has been a massive big screen draw over the years, but times and moviegoing habits have changed dramatically since “Forrest Gump,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “You’ve Got Mail” dominated the box office. More recently, Sony sold the Hanks-led war film “Greyhound” to Apple TV+ during COVID while his Western “News of the World” grossed $12 million in total when many theaters were still closed due to the pandemic. Yet the actor’s latest starring role in 2022’s heartfelt drama “A Man Called Otto” defied expectations for an adult-skewing movie in the post-pandemic era with $113 million worldwide.
“Venom: The Last Dance,” the third and final chapter in Sony’s Marvel antihero trilogy, added $26.1 million from 4,131 venues in its second weekend of release. Those ticket sales are down 49% from its $51 million debut, a decent hold for movies of the superhero ilk. However, “Venom 3” had a much softer start than its predecessors, 2018’s “Venom” and 2021’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.” It has grossed $90 million domestically to date. So, international audiences will be key to justifying the film’s $120 million price tag. The third “Venom” has already been much bigger at the overseas box office with $227 million for a global tally of $317 million.
After an October that’s been heavy on tricks and light on treats, overall box office returns are 11.4% behind 2023 and 27% behind 2019, according to Comscore. Most major studios avoided releasing a movie around the election, so movie theaters may stay quiet 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 2” and Universal’s “Wicked” on Nov. 22, and Disney’s “Moana 2” on Nov. 27.
Holdover titles rounded out box office charts. Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” returned to the No. 2 spot with $7.5 million from 3,231 theaters in its sixth weekend of release — a stellar 11% increase from its previous outing. The well-reviewed family film has endured at the box office with minimal week to week drops, amassing $121.4 million domestically and $269 million worldwide so far.
Paramount’s thriller “Smile 2” slid to third place with $6.8 million from 3,235 locations, declining just 29% from the prior weekend. The R-rated sequel to 2022’s “Smile” has generated $52.6 million in North America and $109 million worldwide to date. It cost $28 million and will become profitable, but the original was bigger with $105 million in North America and $217 million globally.
The Ralph Fiennes-led thriller “Conclave” landed in fourth place with $5.3 million from 1,796 venues. The film, a Vatican-set drama from Focus Features, has grossed $15.2 million after two weekends on the big screen. It’s a decent tally for an adult-skewing film that hopes to find itself in the Oscar race.
Elsewhere, Warner Bros. isn’t reporting grosses on Clint Eastwood’s legal thriller “Juror No. 2.” The $30 million-budgeted film, starring Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette, is playing in limited release on roughly 35 screens. The studios says the well-reviewed “Juror No. 2” has minimal exposure because it’s only serving as an Oscar-qualifying run. However, others attest the film isn’t getting an awards push at all. Either way, the decision to shield grosses allows the studio and filmmaker to avoid scrutiny on box office earnings. The 94-year-old Eastwood has been hit or miss at the box office in recent years, with 2021’s “Cry Macho” bombing with $16.5 million globally and 2018’s “The Mule” scoring $174 million worldwide.
In limited release, Jesse Eisenberg’s drama ” A Real Pain” opened to $240,000 from four theaters in New York and Los Angeles. Those ticket sales translate to $60,000 per location, ranking as the third-best screen average of the year behind Sean Baker’s “Anora” ($92K) and the Yorgos Lanthimos comedic drama “Kinds of Kindness” ($75K). Searchlight acquired “A Real Pain” at Sundance Film Festival and plans to expand its footprint nationwide on Nov. 15. Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin play cousins whose tour through Poland in honor of their grandmother sparks some serious family rivalry.
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