The movie theater, much like the internal organs of a petty thief, has so many snacks and so little time to consume them, but audiences around the globe are still sampling Sony's Venom. Director Ruben Fleischer's tale of disgraced journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his gooey alien pal added another $21.3 million at the overseas box office this weekend, pushing it to $822 million worldwide and past Wonder Woman's monster 2017 haul. This also nudges Venom past Mission: Impossible - Fallout to become the fifth highest worldwide earner of 2018 so far.

It's been an interesting journey for Venom, and that's not even counting the insane process it took to get it into production in the first place. The film was ravaged pretty hard by critics when it premiered back in October, and not not for good reason. Venom's a bit of a mess, with a story that feels chopped-and-screwed from a darker version and a third act conclusion that thuddingly arrives with all the subtly and set-up of a car crash.

But technical aspects aside, Venom is also just kind of damn entertaining on a pure popcorn level, with Hardy especially putting in the most cranked up Tom Hardy performance we've ever seen. While Riz Ahmed and Michelle Williams sleepwalk through roles so shallow it's shocking they didn't break their necks diving into them, Hardy does...whatever the exact opposite of sleepwalking is. The dude is three Monster Energy Drinks deep by the 20-minute mark and eyeing every lobster tank in sight. It helps that Hardy's take on the beloved character—who has been around in comic book form since the 80's—is the only live-action version fans have other than the tacked on appearance in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 played by the significantly less coked up Topher Grace.

With Venom's success, it's all but guaranteed that one of those two 2020 release dates set aside by Sony belongs to a sequel. With that, you have to assume Woody Harrelson and his wonderfully terrible Ronald McDonald wig will return as Carnage. Strap in, the VenomVerse is rolling right along like a turd in the wind.

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Image via Sony
venom-movie-image
Image via Sony
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Image via Sony