"Venom" looking for more than $ 70 million, "One Star is Born" at $ 45 Million – Variety

In the quarrel made by the fans between "Venom" and "A Star Is Born", the real winners are the cinemas.

Tom Hardy's "Venom" is heading for a solid opening weekend of more than $ 70 million and Lady Gaga's "A Star Is Born" is expected to score impressively with about $ 45 million, announced first estimates Friday.

Both titles are at the top of the charts and herald a dynamic start to the fall season in North America. Sony has subscribed to a forecast of $ 55 million, even after "Venom" has recorded $ 10 million premieres Thursday night, becoming the best October title of all time.

Warner Bros. increased its "$ 35 million" projection for "A Star Is Born", led by Bradley Cooper, after a strong $ 4.6 million premiere and preview premiere. But the first figures indicate that the fourth iteration of "A Star Is Born" is heading towards a slightly higher opening weekend brut.

"Venom," starring Hardy as a formidable antihero, is expanding to 4,250 sites on Friday, with expectations ranging from $ 55 million to $ 70 million for the weekend. This is the slam dunk to become the opening opener of October, easily beating the record established in 2013 by "Gravity" Alfonso Cuaron with $ 55.8 million.

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Fandango announced on Friday that "Venom" and "A Star Is Born" together established a record of Fandango pre-sales for most presale tickets sold for an October weekend. Both films are on track to beat the current record holder of the Fandango October opening weekend, "The Martian".

"Venom" received mainly negative reviews with a score of 32% on Rotten Tomatoes (fans receive it more warmly, with an 88% audience score on the website). Sony hopes that "Venom" will launch a shared universe similar to the lucrative franchise of Disney's superheroes. The director of "Zombieland", Ruben Fleischer, directed the film, with a budget of $ 100 million. Hardy describes Eddie Brock, a journalist linked to the extraterrestrial entity known as Venom.

"A star is born" will probably benefit from glowing word of mouth. Critics have adopted "A star is born" with a score of 92% for rotten tomatoes. This is already attracting the attention of the awards season after performances at the Venice and Toronto festivals. Cooper embodies an alcoholic singer who discovers and falls in love with an emerging artist, portrayed by Gaga in her first lead role.

"Venom" and "A Star Is Born" arrive on the market after a solid September, the second best of all time, behind last year. The total number of domestic transactions in 2018 was $ 8.93 billion as of October 3, up 8.1% from last year, according to comScore.

The second weekends of Warner's animated show "Smallfoot" and Universal's comedy "Night School" will compete for third place with about $ 15 million each. "Night School," starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, won last weekend and grossed $ 33 million in its first six days.

Fox also launches his drama "The Hate U Give" in 36 venues on Friday before collapsing on October 19th. Amandla Stenberg plays the lead role in the adaptation of Angie Thomas's novel about a high school student dealing with the death of her friend a police shot.