Weekend projections: Heretic and Christmas Pageant post good openings, but Venom stays top

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is slightly beating our Friday-morning prediction, and Heretic is falling a tiny bit short, but both films are enjoying strong debuts in theaters this weekend, based on Sunday-morning projections. Venom: The Last Dance will remain top, though, adding another $16.2 million to its total, and topping $100 million at the domestic box office.

Here’s how the weekend numbers look as of Sunday morning (click on the image for the full chart of films reporting so far)…

Venom’s international total stands at $279.4 million, including $82.8 million from China, and its global haul is now $394.2 million. That puts it at something around break-even for the studio, and make it, by a huge margin, the second-highest-grossing super hero movie of 2024, in what has been a dismal year for the genre.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is benefiting from good reviews and great word of mouth, and will look to continue as a family favorite into the holidays. It’ll have increasing competition, and releasing the film a week or two before the Thanksgiving juggernauts arrive was a smart strategy for Lionsgate. It’s also an important minor win for the studio, which has had a terrible year. Out of 15 releases, this is only the second, after The Strangers: Chapter 1, to top $10 million on debut.

In comparison, A24 has had a good year. They have already had their best year at the box office, largely thanks to the performance of Civil War and Heretic joins We Live in Time in the top 10 this weekend. The studio is just beginning its planned journey from indie darling to mainstream titan, and hitting the mark with a film like Heretic shows they can deliver.

Among more serious fare, Conclave and Anora are both showing their awards season bona fides. The model isn’t hugely impressed with their performance this weekend, but Focus Features and Neon will be more than happy with their expansions so far. Some award nominations could help them stay in theaters through the end of the year.

– Studio weekend projections

– All-time top-grossing movies in North America

– All-time top-grossing movies worldwide

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Bruce Nash, bruce.nash@the-numbers.com