Venom rips through all comers with record breaking opening

While critics may have hated it – and according to metacritic and rotten tomatoes, their hatred is strong – Venom has cleaned up at the box office both in North America and internationally.

The super villain blockbuster pulled in an estimated $80 million in North American ticket sales, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. Internationally the film went on to earn $125.5 million putting its total haul at $205 million.

This pretty much means that it’s critic proof, since it broke October opening weekend records by around $20 miilion – leaving the likes of Marvel fan favourite Ant Man & The Wasp and Mission: Impossible – Fallout firmly in its rearview. Not only that, given the fact that the film cost a relatively modest $100 million to make, it’s likely that there will be a sequel.

If you’re in the dark about Venom, it’s essentially Sony’s latest crack at the bat with a Marvel property it owns. The film stars Tom Hardy as a journalist called Eddie Brock who makes a shocking discovery of corporate malfeasance. He also become host to a rather nasty alien symbiote who grants him amazing – and lethal superpowers.  The character is a villain in the “Spider-Man” comic book world.

In second place was another new release, musical romance “A Star Is Born,” which took in $41.25 million.

The third remake of the 1937 film of the same name, it marks the directing debut of Bradley Cooper, who stars as a musician who discovers and falls in love with a young singer played by pop superstar Lady Gaga.