Third ‘Venom Movie Titled ‘Venom: The Last Dance’

The new movie will open ahead of its originally planned November release date, landing in late October instead. And what exactly does that title point to?

2018's 'Venom.' Photo: Sony Pictures.

Preview:

The third ‘Venom’ Movie’s title is ‘Venom: The Last Dance’
Tom Hardy is back to star, with co-writer Kelly Marcel directing.
This new film will now be released in October.

Things are changing for the third movie in the successful (though seemingly despite itself) ‘Venom’ franchise –– and for once in the increasingly beleaguered superhero genre, it’s more in a positive direction. Not only has the film been moved forward in terms of its release, but we now know it’ll be called ‘Venom 3: The Last Dance’.

‘Venom’ has proved to be one of the few bright spots of Sony’s Marvel-adjacent Spider-Man universe. While they have never been the biggest hit among critics, the Tom Hardy-starring movies have certainly scored with audiences, as the box office figures have shown.

So what can we speculate based on that title? ‘The Last Dance’ suggests the end of the story for now, but also the potential for a musical element. Given the bizarre partnership of man and symbiote that are a key point of the movies, we could certainly posit a crazed musical sequence.

Venom: The Last Dance

Not Yet RatedOct 25th, 2024

The third entry in the Venom trilogy confirmed to be in development by Amy Pascal. Read the Plot

What’s the story of ‘Venom’ so far?

Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom in 2021's 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage.'

Launching in 2018 with the first movie, ‘Venom’ sees Hardy as Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist struggling to keep his career afloat and hang on to his crumbling social life.

His world is already falling apart before he’s accidentally infected with the alien symbiote, which takes over his body and causes him to become a violent creature that is only too happy to eat people.

Eddie eventually forges an unlikely partnership with the creature that shares his body, and they end up fighting evil (and occasionally, yes, still eating people) together.

Though the original ‘Venom’, directed by ‘Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer, scored some awful reviews, it was a big box office hit, earning more than $850 million dollars.

Naturally, Sony commissioned a sequel, which saw Kelly Marcel, a long-time friend/collaborator of Hardy working together with the actor to write the script (they’d taken over from previous writers Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg on the first movie, sharing credit that time).

2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ saw actor-turned-director Andy Serkis taking over the director’s chair, with Eddie and Venom facing off against violent, psychopathic serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), who merges with another symbiote and becomes the terrifying monster known as Carnage.

It was another blend of less-than-enthusiastic reviews but still healthy box office, ending up with a little over $500 million.

Who is making ‘Venom 3: The Last Dance’?

(L to R) Director Andy Serkis and Tom Hardy on the set of 2021's 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage.'

Even with the latest title news, there are few plot details available for the new movie. We can expect some of the usual hand (tentacle?) wringing about whether he’s an antihero or a slavering, sarcastic alien beast, and probably some of the comedy for which the franchise has been known so far.

For the third, Marcel has stepped up to direct, which might seem like a daunting task, but we’ll wait and see how it works out. Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Clark Backo are all among the cast joining Hardy on screen this time.