Heretic performs well on box office debut but Venom remains top

New movies Heretic and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever both debuted strongly this weekend, but neither was able to snatch the crown from Venom: The Last Dance, which earned $16.2 million from 3,905 theaters in North America, Variety reported.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, a family-friendly movie that follows the chaotic Herdman siblings as they unexpectedly take over their town’s Christmas pageant, took second spot with $11.1 million from 3,020 locations. However, Variety noted that the figure includes $2.2 million from last week’s one-off sneak preview screening. The movie could certainly pick up momentum as we move into the festive season, propelled by a 98% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a critics’ Tomatometer score of 89%.

Heretic, a horror about two Mormon missionaries who encounter a sinister and psychologically manipulative Englishman named Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant), also performed at the higher end of expectations, raking in $11 million from 3,221 venues. Rotten Tomatoes audience rating currently stands at 78%, while the critics are clearly loving it, with the Tomatometer at 93%.

To learn about the story behind the movie, check out Digital Trends’ recent interview with its creators, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, though it’s probably best to wait until after you’ve watched it.

As we mentioned at the top, it was Venom: The Last Dance that triumphed at the box office for a third successive weekend, taking $16.2 million from 3,905 North American venues. But its best days are now behind it, as the big-budget action-comedy Red One looks like a surefire bet for success this coming weekend, and the action-epic Gladiator II triumphing the weekend after that.