LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The new Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios' superhero film "Venom: The Last Dance," topped ticket sales at the North American box office with an estimated three-day total of 51 million U.S. dollars on its opening weekend, according to figures collected by measurement company Comscore on Sunday.
The opening weekend tally is much lower than that of the previous two films in the "Venom" trilogy. The first "Venom" opened to over 80 million dollars in 2018, while "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" debuted with over 90 million dollars in 2021.
"Venom: The Last Dance," the finale of the trilogy, was directed by Kelly Marcel and starred Tom Hardy as Venom, one of Marvel's most complex characters.
The comic book film has only earned an approval rating of 37 percent based on 128 reviews to date on the review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, and a "B-" on an "A+" to "F" scale from audiences polled by the market research firm CinemaScore.
The film earned 124 million dollars internationally, including 46 million dollars from the Chinese mainland, bringing its worldwide total to 175 million dollars.
Paramount Pictures' horror film "Smile 2" dropped to second place on its second weekend with 9.4 million dollars for a North American total of 40.7 million dollars.
Another newcomer, Focus Features' religious thriller "Conclave," opened in third place with 6.5 million dollars. ■