A poster for Venom: The Last Dance in a cinema in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, on October 1, 2024 Photo: VCG

Nabbing a promising-looking first-day box office of 67.309 million yuan ($9.4 million), Venom: The Last Dance, the finale of the Hollywood superhero film trilogy featuring Marvel Comics' Venom, debuted in the Chinese mainland on Wednesday, two days ahead of North American cinemas. 

The third installment focuses on the symbiotic duo of Eddie Brock, played by Tom Hardy, and an alien symbiote as they face a dual threat from a mysterious organization and new challenges together. Treating Chinese moviegoers with a 109-minute-long film "preview," the franchise finale seems to have grasped Chinese fans' hearts. 

It also broke the record for the highest first-day box office for a horror film in the past five years. One reason behind its glorified beginning is likely to be fans' nostalgic desire to "complete watching the trilogy."  "I was a fan of the first installment and I will surely watch the last one since that feels like a completion," Tian Tiankai, a 26-year-old moviegoer, told the Global Times. In 2018, the first installment of the Venom film series debuted in the Chinese mainland, earning a laudable 1.87-billion-yuan at the box office in total. 

While the second film in the series was not released in the Chinese mainland, the performance of the Venom finale is set to be "better than expected" as a result of audiences' curiosity about the film following the previous hiatus, film industry expert Xiao Sujun told the Global Times. 

Compared to the previous films, The Last Dance places greater emphasis on the emotional bond between the two characters while also weaving humorous elements into the film, significantly reducing the dark and tragic ambiance of the franchise. 

Kelly Marcel, the director of the Venom finale and the only female director of the trilogy, is believed to have brought a new interpretation to the traditionally masculine orientated superhero theme.  

"The third installment brings more emotional depth to the narrative compared to the previous films. The movie especially emphasizes its buddy-film elements while incorporating aspects of the road movie genre," film industry expert Shi Wenxue told the Global Times. 

The softer narrative attempts to engage a wider range of audiences to see the loveable qualities in Venom, who debuted as an atypical superhero character. Another strength of the third installment is its "improved audio-visual presentation and special effects," Shi told the Global Times.

Although the film's popularity is apparent, some moviegoers in China still find it has the drawbacks of being a "typical Hollywood popcorn film" that "lacks rigorous logic." 

"I can feel the bromance of the film, but still, the third installment lacks a coherent narrative," a netizen posted on Chinese rating platform Douban. 

The moviegoer also noted that the drawback shares similarities to other productions including Joker: Folie à Deux, which debuted in the Chinese mainland in mid-October. 

After nine days of release, it only earned 49.527 million yuan at the box office as of Thursday night. 

Shi told the Global Times that as no outstanding Hollywood movies have debuted recently, Venom: The Last Dance's final box office could reach "500 million yuan."  

"Over the past five years of Hollywood movies, whether it's superheroes or anti-heroes, they have only managed to present different images but cannot escape their rigid narrative formula. Whether it's parallel universes or multiverses, even quantum mechanics cannot save the plight of scarce story elements," said Shi. 

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn