When the first trailer for Venom came along, we kind of hoped that Sony would be taking some risks with its Spider-Man spin-off movie, and perhaps throw a few more dark and bloody consequences into the mix, but those hopes have been dashed this week as official word from AMC theatres has arrived with confirmation that…nah.
Yes, the forthcoming Tom Hardy flick will be a PG-13, with other Marvel crossover plans cited as the reason for a softer Venom, and one that might not need an urgent antiserum. Sony clearly doesn’t want to alienate younger audience members, either, but this already feels like a missed opportunity for the studio. The BBFC hasn’t yet offered up its certificate at the time of writing, but we presume a 12A is on the horizon.
Regardless, the film – directed by Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer – is heading for some solid October numbers at the box office. Variety has revealed that Venom is eyeing a $60 million to $65 million debut when it arrives on 5th October.
CBeebies’ Bedtime Story enjoyer Hardy stars in Sony’s tentative spin-off as the titular antihero alongside Woody Harrelson, Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate. The movie’s running time has also been confirmed as 1 hour 52 minutes in the midst of the rating news.
Feel free to exorcise your feelings about all this in the comments.
Kirsten Howard is the news editor at Den Of Geek UK, and she will assure you that Tokyo Drift is the best one, even if you didn’t ask. You can follow her on Twitter, but we wouldn’t recommend it.