Photo from Sony Pictures

LOS ANGELES – ‘Venom: The Last Dance” grossed $16.2 million this weekend to lead all films in North America for the third consecutive weekend, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

The third film in the Marvel-based series starring Tom Hardy as the titular superhero beat out the family comedy “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” which opened with $11.1 million, Comscore reported.

The Hugh Grant-starring horror film “Heretic” opened with $11 million for third place.

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“The Wild Robot” was fourth with $6.6 million Friday through Sunday in its seventh weekend, followed by “Smile 2” with $5 million in its fourth weekend.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “Conclave” ($4.1 million), “Anora” ($2.45 million), “Here” ($2.44 million), “We Live in Time” ($2.2 million) and “Terrifier 3” ($1.4 million).

This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $72 million. The year-to-date total is $6.974 billion — down 11.2 percent from the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.

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Overall box office continues to lag behind 2023 by almost 12 percent. But holiday moviegoing will likely give the industry an end-of-year boost with titles like “Gladiator II” and “Wicked” on the way.

In “Venom: The Last Dance,” Tom Hardy returns as Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters, for the final film in the trilogy.

Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.

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“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” released by Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company, which specializes in Christian entertainment, is about six siblings with a bad reputation who take over the local church pageant.

The film, an adaptation of Barbara Robinson’s 1972 children’s book directed by Dallas Jenkins, did well with audiences, who gave it a “A” CinemaScore.

“Venom: The Last Dance,” a Columbia Pictures release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for intense sequences of violence and action, bloody images and strong language. (With CNS report)

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