It might chronicle the mighty effort to land humans on the moon, but First Man couldn't rocket past the two big current success stories at the American box office. Venom, in particular, is confounding the negative critical response and earning well, taking in $35.7 million this weekend, according to studio estimates.
The Tom Hardy–starring comicbook pic has so far made more than $142 million in the US and has crossed $378 million worldwide in just a couple of weeks on release, which likely means the sequel talks are already starting. And the top two stayed the same, as A Star Is Born continued to perform, adding $28 million as it roars towards $100 million (which it should cross this coming week).
First Man, meanwhile, had to settle for one small step as it launched third, taking in $16.5 million. Still, opening more in line with expectations was Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, kicking off its box office run with a less-than-thrilling $16.2 million. Smallfoot fell to fifth, earning $9.3 million.
At sixth, Night School took in $8 million, which put it ahead of the big disappointment of the week's charts. Despite the clear appeal of shirtless Chris Hemsworth and the noir mystery, Bad Times At The El Royale had a bad time at the box office, opening to just $7.2 million.
The House With A Clock In Its Walls slipped to eighth, scaring up $3.9 million, while The Hate U Give expanded its release with $1.7 million. Finally, in 10th, A Simple Favour earned $1.3 million.
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