Venom: Let There Be Carnage's release date has been pushed back three weeks to October 21 amidst a struggling box office and concerns over the COVID-19 Delta variant. The highly anticipated sequel to 2018's Venom, the film will see Tom Hardy return as Eddie Brock and the voice of the titular lethal avenger as he faces off against one of his most dangerous foes in the form of Woody Harrelson's serial killer Cletus Kasady/Carnage.
Despite mixed reviews from critics, the first Venom film garnered over $80 million in its opening weekend, the second-best for the month of October 2018, and went on to make $856 million worldwide at the end of its box office run. Currently, box office revenue levels are well below that mark, with James Gunn's critically acclaimed The Suicide Squad falling short of its already conservative box-office estimate of $30 million for its opening weekend, earning just over $25 million.
Sony announced Venom 2's release date will be pushed back to October 15th. Previously, it was set for a September 24th premiere. Sony is hoping for a purely theatrical release for the film, but considering the recent lull in box-office attendance both domestically and overseas, it's understandable why they would push the film back in order to gauge box-office improvement.
Other studios like Disney and Warner Bros. have attempted to offset the lower box office revenue by opting for hybrid, or day-and-date, releases with their films arriving on their respective streaming platforms at the same time as in theaters. While such releases have helped offset lower box office returns, they have also proved controversial, with Disney being sued by Scarlett Johansson over an alleged breach of contract in relation to the hybrid release of Black Widow and subsequent loss of earnings. This is less of an issue for Sony as they don't have a dedicated streaming platform like HBO Max or Disney+. Rather, they are focused entirely on theatrical releases with their films landing of the likes of Hulu and Disney+ shortly after release. At the same time, though, this means that the studio is at the whim of a radical, turbulent box office.
Moving back the release date of Venom 2 will hopefully allow the studio to better keep an eye on box office levels, but it's yet to be seen if it improves that quickly. It was initially rumored that Sony was eying up a January 2022 release date before deciding on October, so it wouldn't be surprising to see them move the film's release window again if attendance levels don't appear to be picking up. The issue with this strategy is that it will only serve to frustrate the audience, and it could lead to pushback from fans who simply choose to wait for the film's release elsewhere.
The other issue to consider is that the new release date of October 15th forces Venom 2 to contend directly with Halloween Kills, which releases on the same day. Moreover, both films will release directly between the long-awaited (and much delayed) new James Bond film No Time To Die, which releases a week earlier on October 8th, and Denis Villeneuve's Dune, which releases a week later on October 22nd. Although there has been a trend of box office revenur declining rapidly after a film's first week, this is still strong competition to go up against. It remains to be seen then whether this delay with pay off for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, or whether Sony will be forced to issue a further delay.
Source: Sony
