Moviefone Editorial

Tag: Venom

  • Tom Hardy Defends ‘Venom’ PG-13 Rating, and Pushes for Fight With ‘Avengers’

    Tom Hardy Defends ‘Venom’ PG-13 Rating, and Pushes for Fight With ‘Avengers’

    Sony

    Tom Hardy wants his Eddie Brock/Venom “to run with the established family” — meaning the Marvel Cinematic Universe family. The best way to get into that world is probably through a PG-13 rating, despite many comic book fans wanting an R-rated “Venom.”

    “Venom” co-stars Tom Hardy and Riz Ahmed talked to MTV International about Sony’s Marvel Comics film — which is separate from Marvel Studios’ Marvel Comics films with the “Avengers.” During the talk, Hardy tried to defend the PG-13 rating, and also pushed for a future crossover with the “Avengers.”

    Ahmed first talked about comic book fans being so hardcore, and asking them questions on the street about “Venom.”

    MTV International: “Is there a particular question fans have been asking the most about ‘Venom’?”

    Tom Hardy: “‘Is it going to be R-Rated?’ That’s the big question and the answers been answered, isn’t it?”

    Riz Ahmed: “It’s a 15 in the UK.”

    Tom Hardy: “And it’s a PG-13 in the States. But to be fair, the thing can fulcrum into R-Rated, and fulcrum into youth or children. My littlest ones, they watch Spider-Man and Venom quite comfortably and Venom toys appear and LEGO appear in my nostril in the morning, you know what I mean? So it’s not like they’re scared by him. And at the same time there’s a lot in the real estate that you can actually imbue with a complete sense of gratuitous violence if you really wanted to, and I think you’ve got the right people for that job if you want to push it. Of course that’s where I’d love to go with it. And I’d love to through all the Avengers as well with it. But that’s above my pay grade. Riz, maybe you could have a word.”

    Riz Ahmed: “You want me to talk to the Avengers and tell them you want to have a fight with them? That Venom wants to fight the Avengers.”

    Hardy put them out there for a crossover, but if it doesn’t happen, he thinks they can fight alone.

    Watch the full MTV video for more, including the breaking news that Tom Hardy is not actually obsessed with the angel emoji, because someone else runs his social media for him.

    “Venom” opens in theaters October 3.

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  • Tom Hardy Takes ‘Venom’ to Moscow

    Tom Hardy Takes ‘Venom’ to Moscow

    Venom/Twitter

    Tom Hardy took his new movie “Venom” to Moscow Friday, where the audience donned toothy Venom masks to view the comic-book movie.

    He also did the requisite photos with fans and even wore a fur hat. (Alas, it’s not as meme-worthy as Nicolas Cage’s famous furred-hat appearance, but still, we salute you, Tom.)

    Twitter

    And, FYI, “Venom” becomes “Behom” in Russian, thanks to the Cyrillic lettering.

    At the press conference, Hardy said, “The depiction of Venom, I think, has been extremely faithful to the comics. If we look at some of the images directly from comic book, they haven’t deviated in any [way]. If anything they’ve recreated certain elements accurately from the comic book.”

    While advanced buzz is not so great, Hardy has signed for two more “Venom” films, saying, “We’ll see what people’s responses are to it. I think it’s an awesome character.”

    “Venom” opens worldwide on October 3 and on October 5 in the U.S. and Canada.

    [Via Metro UK, Reuters]

  • ‘Venom’ Rating, Run Time, and Box Office Tracking Revealed

    ‘Venom’ Rating, Run Time, and Box Office Tracking Revealed

    Venom
    Sony Pictures Entertainment

    “Venom” is coming for your wallet. It’s best chance is through a PG-13 rating, so … goodbye R.

    Tickets are now on sale for Tom Hardy‘s standalone “Spider-Man” spinoff. The rating has been revealed as PG-13, with a run time of 1 hour, 52 minutes — perfect for multiple showings a day in thousands of theaters.

    “Venom” was once eyed for an R-rating, but last month it was previewed that Sony was more likely to go for PG-13. They want to leave the door open for possible future match-ups with young Spider-Man, and maybe some Marvel Cinematic Universe crossovers. The MCU does not do R.

    Plus, they want money. Who doesn’t? But they especially want money to start building Sony’s Marvel Universe.  “Venom” is the first film in that universe, but there are more to come.

    So while a PG-13 rating will disappoint hardcore “Venom” fans, it will also give the film a better chance at the box office, which gives Sony’s Marvel Universe a better chance for future spinoff success.

    Look at “The Meg.” Jason Statham was open with his disappointment that the shark film was less gory and bloody than he signed on for. But it has made a killing at the box office with its PG-13 rating. The receipts don’t lie.

    “Venom” is already benefiting from its more family-friendly rating. According to Variety, early box office estimates show “Venom” opening in the $60 million to $65 million range. Sony went lower with predictions of $55-$60 million — so if it does better they can say it beat expectations, and if it opens low they can say that was expected.

    But as Variety noted, even if “Venom” opens toward the lower end of those predictions, it would still rank as the biggest October opening (not adjusted for inflation), topping the $55.8 million for “Gravity” in 2013.

    “Venom” opens in theaters October 5th.

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  • Will Spider-Man Be in ‘Venom’ After All?

    Will Spider-Man Be in ‘Venom’ After All?

    Sony

    Director Ruben Fleischer won’t (or can’t) say whether Spider-Man will appear in the upcoming  “Venom” starring Tom Hardy.

    Talking to the LA Times, Fleischer said, “I honestly don’t know what I’m allowed to say. I mean, I know the answer — I’ve seen the movie. But I don’t want to get in trouble for saying something I’m not supposed to.”

    That sounds to us like a “yes, Spider-Man is definitely in the movie,” but of course that would ruin the surprise, if true.

    Fleischer was also coy about the actual plot, saying only, “It’s a big-stakes action movie, so the goal probably involves saving something.”

    The movie has been billed as a standalone film that has nothing to do with the previous version of Venom as seen in “Spider-Man 3.”

    What Fleischer can tell us is that he’s also glad Hardy isn’t (for once) wearing a mask for most of the movie. “I think Tom is going to surprise a lot of people with his performance in this movie. It’s just a little different than we’re used to seeing him. There’s no mask in front of his face. He’s not playing a period. He’s just playing a contemporary guy. I think it’s just a little more of Tom than people have seen in a little bit.”

    Even if Spider-Man doesn’t make an appearance in this movie, will he and Hardy’s Venom battle it out down the road? Again, Fleischer can’t say.

    “As to where it goes from here and what worlds it intersects with, I think that remains to be written,” Fleischer told the Times. “Ultimately it comes down to the studio’s deals with the different characters and I don’t really know the specifics of all that. I’m a pawn on that board. I’m one of the pieces.”

    “Venom” opens October 5.

    [Via LA Times]

     

  • Fall 2018 Movie Preview: 36 Horror Movies, Blockbusters, and Dramas You Must See This Year

    Fall 2018 Movie Preview: 36 Horror Movies, Blockbusters, and Dramas You Must See This Year

  • ‘Venom’ Probably Won’t Be Rated R

    ‘Venom’ Probably Won’t Be Rated R

    Sony

    Sony’s upcoming “Spider-Man” spinoff, “Venom,” looks pretty dark, but apparently it’s not going to lean into that vibe too far: The flick is reportedly no longer aiming for an R rating.

    That’s according to Variety, which reports that an R — which was to have been a first in the Marvel-Sony partnership — is “unlikely” at this point for “Venom,” which will instead “push the very limits of PG-13 without crossing over into a higher rating.” And you can thank your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man for that.

    Per Variety, Sony executives are worried about an R rating restricting future crossover potential into the world of Peter Parker and co., who have been part of the MCU for several films now. “Venom,” starring Tom Hardy as the titular villain, is currently totally separate from those heroes, and was originally aiming to play up the villain’s horror elements before eventually striking a compromise to also play up the some of the lighter elements of the gritty character.

    “The feeling is [the lower rating] will give the studio greater leeway for future installments that will feature Spider-Man,” Variety reports. ” … Any ‘Spider-Man’ movie will carry a PG-13 rating because the wall-crawler is more family friendly, and if ‘Venom’ is too dark and gory, it might preclude other film match-ups, not just with Peter Parker’s alter-ego, but also with other members of the extended Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

    While that’s certainly disappointing from a creative standpoint, it does make the most financial sense for Sony. We’ll just have to see if fans are understanding about the compromise.

    “Venom” is due in theaters on October 5.

    [via: Variety]

  • New ‘Venom’ Trailer Unleashes Symbiote Army

    New ‘Venom’ Trailer Unleashes Symbiote Army

    Venom
    Sony

    Here is “Venom,” in all his gory glory.

    Sony released a new trailer for the movie, which stars Tom Hardy as a journalist named Eddie Brock who comes into contact with an alien symbiote that fuses with him. That gives him superpowers but also turns him into a slime monster with a really gross, long tongue.

    “I found something really bad,” Eddie says. “And I have been … taken.” And in this universe, there’s no Liam Neeson to save him.

    This trailer provides a better look at Riz Ahmed’s Dr. Carlton Drake, who’s conducting experiments on merging humans and symbiotes — and eventually becomes Riot, even more powerful than Venom.

    Venom is a character from the Spider-Man universe, though this movie is not part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That likely means we won’t see Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in this movie or any of the other villain-focused movies Sony is developing.

    “Venom” opens in theaters October 5.

  • Riz Ahmed’s ‘Venom’ Villain Revealed, Spider-Man Team-Up Teased

    Riz Ahmed’s ‘Venom’ Villain Revealed, Spider-Man Team-Up Teased

    Sony Pictures/Marvel

    While Friday was a relatively quiet day for big screen news coming out of San Diego Comic Con, during the Sony panel there were a couple of details revealed about their highly anticipated “Venom” solo movie (with Tom Hardy in the title role).

    Perhaps the biggest news was the reveal that Riz Ahmed, who plays Dr. Carlton Drake, a scientist and philanthropist whose Life Foundation is experimenting with extraterrestrial entities, will also portray Riot, a symbiote like Venom who can hop from person to person. Riot first appeared in the comic book “Venom, Lethal Protector” issue #4 way back in 1993. (Drake was attempting to create a super-powered police force using the alien symbiote. Or something.) So yes, there are more symbiotes in “Venom” than just, you know, Venom!

    After screening some blood-splattered footage (in one sequence Venom eats a guy’s head), the cast and crew also teased a possible team-up with Tom Holland, the newly minted Spider-Man. While this seemingly seems impossible, seeing as how Marvel Studios jointly controls the character now, Holland was spotted on the “Venom” set earlier this year and it’s unclear if the “Venom” team was keeping coy or being purposefully opaque. “At some point down the road, they will hopefully cross paths,” director Ruben Fleischer said during the panel. While Hardy chipped in, “Go toe-to-toe with Tom Holland? I’ll have a go!”

    So what do you think? Will Spidey show up in “Venom?” And how excited are you to see the ultimate villain appear in his very own film?

  • Tom Hardy: ‘Venom’ Is ‘A Bit Like Ren and Stimpy’

    Tom Hardy: ‘Venom’ Is ‘A Bit Like Ren and Stimpy’

    Sony

    Tom Hardy says there’s a simple reason he wanted to play Venom: “He’s the coolest!” And that his interpretation of both sides of the character comes from a classic ’90s cartoon.

    Talking to EW about his upcoming superhero film, Hardy said, “As far as Marvel characters, I have to say for me, Venom looks the coolest. That sounds a bit shallow! But I appreciate that he has a kind of brazen swagger and a zero foxtrot attitude.”

    For the uninitiated, Venom is a bit of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde character. His human side is all-American journalist Eddie Brock. But when an investigation exposes him to an alien known as a symbiote, he’s infected with an alter-ego that’s got razor-sharp teeth, a wicked tongue and crazy powers.

    And a tendency to bite off heads. Hardy admits that Venom’s brutal method of dealing with adversaries “is not what you would expect from, say, Captain America taking down a crook.”

    Hardy explained he took inspiration for the character’s dual personalities from a feuding dog-and-cat duo. “It’s a bit like Ren and Stimpy, you know?,” he said to EW. “They have different sounds. I always saw Venom as sounding like a James Brown lounge lizard, and Eddie Brock is kind of…” — he switches to an aw-shucks American accent — “I don’t know, an everyday kind of guy. But he’s inherited this massive ego, this beast.

    “There’s a tragic clown element, which I find funny and is harmonious with some of the work that I like to do,” says Hardy of playing a vastly different villain than, say, Batman’s nemesis Bane.

    Although Venom exists in the Spider-Man ‘verse, he won’t share the same cinematic space as current Spidey Tom Holland. And he won’t be a retread of the character as played by Topher Grace in the best-forgotten “Spider-Man 3.”

    Director Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland”) says that he and Hardy “talked a lot about a werewolf and what it is when you get infected or bit by a werewolf.” But instead of transforming into a wolf a la “An American Werewolf in London,” the human side has to coexist with the beast.

    In other words, no Tom Hardy waking up naked in the wolf cage at the zoo and wondering what the hell happened the night before.

    Two new photos over at EW include one with Riz Ahmed and Hardy strapped to a chair for what looks like an uncomfortable interrogation.

    Sony

    “Venom” hits heaters October 5.

    [Via EW]

  • The ‘Venom’ Trailer Has More Views Than ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘Black Panther,’ ‘The Last Jedi’

    How big is Tom Hardy’s “Venom” going to be?

    Screen Crush got fans talking with its recent story pointing out that the Sony Spider-Man spinoff has actually had more views than any previous “Spider-Man” movie trailer. They also listed several other films with less-viewed trailers, and the major blockbusters with more views.

    The first “Venom” teaser didn’t show Venom at all, which is probably why the actual debut of the character in the official trailer got so much attention. And it was good attention, with some cynical fans admitting they were pretty impressed by the visuals.

    That official Sony trailer on YouTube currently has 64,189,157 views (with 1.3 million upvotes vs. 48K downvotes).

    Screen Crush compared that to the official trailer views for Andrew Garfield’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (37 million), Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” (28 million), and the upcoming computer-animated “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (25 million).

    They also listed a few other YouTube trailers that did not do as well as “Venom,” including several Marvel, DC, Lucasfilm, and Disney blockbusters:

    • “Iron Man 3”: 62 million views
    • “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”: 55 million
    • “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”: 50 million
    • “It”: 49 million
    • “Ghostbusters”: 44 million
    • “Justice League”: 42 million
    • “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”: 41 million
    • “Deadpool 2”: 41 million
    • “Black Panther”: 40 million
    • “The Dark Knight Rises”: 36 million
    • “Frozen”: 34 million
    • “Wonder Woman”: 29 million
    • “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2”: 20 million

    Check out their full list of trailer views. It’s just counting the first official trailers, not teasers or future trailers, or combining views from all of the promos.

    Of course, “Venom” is nowhere near the 200+ million mark for the official “Avengers: Infinity War” trailer. But it’s still pretty impressive, and a good sign for Sony’s Marvel Universe. This is the first film in that new universe — which is completely separate from Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    “Venom” — starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, and Jenny Slate — opens in theaters October 5.

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