Although Venom may be polarizing among film critics, the fan reactions and subsequent box office numbers don’t lie. It’s been almost a month since Venom’s release and it seems that it’s a bona fide success! The inaugural efforts by Sony to set the stage for this Spider-Man anti-hero spinoff universe have undoubtedly made quite a splash by racking up a gross of over $460 million worldwide to date, not to mention an opening weekend record of $80 million domestically.
Despite a few mixed reviews, these numbers have caught the attention of some other giants in the movie industry, and it looks like they want a piece of the action.
It was recently reported that Sony Pictures Entertainment has signed a multi-picture deal with IMAX only a few weeks after Venom’s debut. The Marvel/Sony film was distributed in IMAX theaters for its October 3 debut, and it presumably found success on the even bigger screens, too.
The movie performed so well, in fact, that IMAX plans to screen all of Sony’s upcoming big titles in special high definition remastering. The films on Sony’s schedule set to be released in IMAX include the Disney-partnered Spider-Man: Far From Home, hitting theaters next summer; the Men in Black spinoff film, starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, also coming out in summer 2019; and the sequel to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which is set to debut in December 2019. And that’s just the beginning!
The CEO of IMAX Entertainment, Greg Foster, spoke about the partnership with Sony and its highly anticipated slate of film releases, especially Far from Home. Foster said:
“Spider-Man, in particular, is a Marvel movie, and we’re excited about continuing our relationship with Marvel. It’s been among the most fruitful relationships we’ve had with filmmakers. So it’s a win-win.”
This year IMAX and Marvel Studios partnered to release Avengers: Infinity War in IMAX, as it was entirely filmed using IMAX cameras. The film brought in an opening weekend gross of over $100 million in IMAX theaters alone, so it is no wonder that the company hopes to extend its relationship with all Marvel allies, like Sony.
In the end, though, it was Venom that served as the final push for IMAX and Sony to create a global partnership after the movie’s opening weekend success, raking in $15.4 million in IMAX theaters. It looks like we will be seeing some great films in the next few years in the larger than life IMAX format that we know and love!