This past weekend saw the release of Venom and A Star is Born.

Venom came out on top, exceeding all expectations (including my own low expectations) to take in $80.0M in its opening weekend. Most projections saw it closer to $65M and $70M, and personally, I was surprised to see the damn movie exceed $30M, let alone $80M. It’s also a film that, despite having a low critical rating of 31%, seems to have at least some good will with fans, as it has a CinemaScore of a B+. That being said, it can’t be ignored that Batman v Superman had a B CinemaScore, and people were all doom and gloom about that one as well. So while there may be a lot of people touting the huge polarization between fans and critics, keep in mind that the same headlines weren’t being made when Batman v Superman had a B CinemaScore and 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’ll be truly telling how much fans did or didn’t like it next weekend.

In second place is A Star is Born, the millionth remake of the same name from director Bradley Cooper. This film has been licked dry by critics (including our own Fox Troilo), and given its tried-and-true narrative and solid execution, it’s no surprise it managed to do as well as it did, taking in $41.3M. It is worth noting that this doesn’t appear to be just a piece of Oscar bait (though it is), as general audiences gave it an A CinemaScore, meaning that fans are getting exactly what they expected from it, which is great.

In third place is Smallfoot with $14.9M, dropping only 35.3% from its opening weekend. While its opening weekend was quite disappointing, this low drop is a good thing, and shows that perhaps it will have a longer tail than initially intended. Will it be enough to make the film worth it for the studio? We’ll have to wait and see.

The top 10 domestic weekend box office estimates, listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, October 7, are below:

Venom – Sony – $80.0M
Star Is Born, A – Warner Bros. – $41.2M
Smallfoot – Warner Bros. – $14.9M
Night School – Universal – $12.3M
House With A Clock In Its Walls, The – Universal – $7.3M
Simple Favor, A – Lionsgate – $3.4M
Nun, The – Warner Bros. – $2.6M
Hell Fest – Lionsgate – $2.1M
Crazy Rich Asians – Warner Bros. – $2.1M

The top 10 worldwide weekend box office estimates, listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, October 7, are below:

Venom – Sony – $205.2M
Star Is Born, A – Warner Bros. – $55.2M
Project Gutenberg – Multiple – $38.0M
Smallfoot – Warner Bros. – $26.6M
Shadow – LeVis – $17.9M
Night School – Universal – $15.7M
Hello, Mrs. Money – Multiple – $15.6M
Johnny English Strikes Again – Universal – $14.1M
House With a Clock In Its Walls, The – Multiple – $12.9M
Nun, The – Warner Bros. – $9.8M

Don’t forget to share this post on your Facebook wall and with your Twitter followers! Just hit the buttons on the top of this page.

SOURCE: comScore, Box Office Mojo