Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a 2021 American sci-fi superhero mystery comedy film based on the Marvel Comics character Venom, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing and 20th Century Studios, it is intended to be the second film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the sequel to Venom (2018). The film is being directed by Andy Serkis from a screenplay by Kelly Marcel, and stars Tom Hardy alongside Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Reid Scott, and Naomie Harris. In the film, Brock tries to reignite his career in journalism by interviewing serial killer Cletus Kasady (Harrelson), who becomes the host of an alien symbiote similar to Venom named Carnage.
Plans for a sequel to Venom began during production on that film, with Harrelson cast to make a brief appearance as Cletus Kasady at the end of Venom with the intention of him becoming the villain Carnage in the sequel. Work began in January 2019, with Hardy and Harrelson confirmed to return along with Marcel as writer. Serkis was hired that August. Filming took place at Leavesden Studios in England from November 2019 to February 2020, with additional filming in San Francisco in February. The title was announced in April 2020.
The film was released on October 15, 2021 in United States, although in United Kingdom, it had already been released on September 14. Although it was initially met with largely positive reaction, it eventually received mixed, leaning positive reviews; critics praised the performances, chemistry between Eddie and Venom, action sequences, and mid-credit scene, although its plot and CGI were criticized. The short runtime and humor also polarized responses. Despite earning much less than the first film, it was still enough of a box office success to outdo its competition, hitting $506 million against a budget of $110 million, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2021.
== Premise ==
Over a year after the events of Venom (2018), investigative journalist Eddie Brock struggles to adjust to life as the host of the alien symbiote Venom, which grants him super-human abilities in order to be a lethal vigilante. Brock attempts to reignite his career by interviewing serial killer Cletus Kasady, who becomes the host of the symbiote Carnage and escapes prison after a failed execution.
== Cast ==
* Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock / Venom
* Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady / Carnage
* Michelle Williams as Anne Weying
* Reid Scott as Dan Lewis
* Naomie Harris as Shriek
*Stephen Graham as Mulligan
Additionally, Peggy Lu reprises her role as convenience store owner Mrs. Chen from the first film. Sean Delaney and Larry Olubamiwo have been cast in undisclosed roles. J.K Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson and Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man appear in a post credit scene.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
During the long development of the 2018 film Venom, the character Carnage was expected to appear as an antagonist. During pre-production on that film, the creative team decided not to include the character so they could focus on introducing the protagonists, Eddie Brock and Venom. Director Ruben Fleischer felt that leaving Venom's most formidable villain for a sequel would give the franchise "a place to go" and would be a natural next step, so Carnage's alter-ego Cletus Kasady was introduced in a mid-credits scene at the end of the first film with the intention of featuring him in a sequel. Fleischer wanted to cast Woody Harrelson in the role, feeling there was a "natural connection" between the character and Harrelson's performance in Natural Born Killers (1994), and asked Harrelson while the pair were discussing a sequel to their film Zombieland (2009). After meeting with Fleischer and Tom Hardy for dinner, Harrelson agreed to take on the part. Harrelson described his decision as a roll of the dice since he was not able to read a script for the sequel before signing on to the first film. In August 2018, ahead of Venom's release, Hardy confirmed that he had signed on to star in two sequels.
At the end of November 2018, Sony gave an October 2, 2020 release date to an untitled Marvel sequel that was believed to be Venom 2, which would place the film in the same release timeframe as the first Venom, box office analysts believed by then that Venom had been successful enough to guarantee a sequel would be made. A month later, Venom writer Jeff Pinkner confirmed that a sequel was "happening", but he was not involved in writing it at that point. Fleischer reiterated this, saying that he could not discuss a sequel but he saw the first film as Brock and Venom "coming together. So there’s a natural evolution from that to a sequel where it is like, okay, now what’s it like to live together? It’s like a bromantic sort of relationship." In January, Kelly Marcel signed a "significant" deal with Sony to write and executive produce the sequel after also working on the script for the first film. This marked the official beginning of work on the film for the studio, and was revealed alongside confirmation of Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Amy Pascal returning as producers. Hardy and Harrelson were also expected to return for the sequel, along with Michelle Williams in the role of Brock's ex-fiancee Anne Weying. No director was confirmed for the film, with Sony considering replacing Fleischer due to his commitments to Zombieland: Double Tap (2019), though he still intended to be involved in Venom 2.
By the end of July 2019, Sony hoped for filming to begin that November and had met with several candidates to replace Fleischer as director since he was still completing work on Zombieland: Double Tap at that time; directors the studio met with include Andy Serkis, Travis Knight, and Rupert Wyatt. Sony was also interested in Rupert Sanders directing the film, but that "didn’t work out". Serkis confirmed at the start of August that he had discussed the project with Sony and it was "potentially something that might happen", shortly before he was officially hired to direct the film. Serkis was partly hired due to his experience working with CGI and motion-capture technology as both an actor and director. Discussing the film soon after his hiring, Serkis said Hardy had been working closely with Marcel on the screenplay which was "centered around their take". Fleischer said he was happy to let Serkis take over the franchise following the negative critical reaction that the first film received, believing reviewers had unfairly treated the "crowdpleasing movie", potentially due to biases against Sony and towards Marvel Studios' rival superhero films. By the time Serkis was hired, Hutch Parker had joined the sequel as a producer. A friend of Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman, Parker previously served as a producer for several Marvel-based films produced by 20th Century Fox.
=== Pre-production ===
In September 2019, Reid Scott was expected to reprise his role as Weying's boyfriend Dan from the first film. The character Shriek was also expected to appear as the film's secondary villain and a love interest for Carnage. Many different actresses were looked at for the part, before Naomie Harris was cast in the role in mid-October. Stephen Graham had also joined the film, in an undisclosed role, by the end of the year. Tolmach said there was a chance the sequel could be rated R following the huge success of the R-rated Joker (2019), as well as previous successful R-rated comic book films such as Deadpool (2016) and Logan (2017). However, Tolmach cautioned that the PG-13 rating of the first Venom had led to box office success and they would not be looking to change the franchise's tone simply because it had worked for others. He added that the biggest lesson learned from the first Venom was that fans loved the relationship between Brock and Venom, and the sequel would focus even more on the two characters together because of this.
=== Filming ===
Principal photography began on November 15, 2019, at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England under the working title Fillmore. Robert Richardson served as the cinematographer for the film, reuniting with Serkis after they worked together on Breathe (2017). Filming took place at the campus of London South Bank University in mid-January 2020. Hardy revealed that filming in England was completed on February 8, with the production then moving to San Francisco where the film is set. Location filming continued in that city for several weeks, taking place in several neighborhoods, the Anchor Brewery stood in for a police station, while filming in Nob Hill took place at Grace Cathedral on February 20 and 21. Filming also took place at the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District. 
=== Post-production ===
Sean Delaney revealed in early April 2020 that he had a "very small blink-and-you'll-miss-me role" in the sequel, and confirmed that post-production on the film had begun before the coronavirus pandemic caused most film productions to shut down. Sony confirmed that the film was scheduled to be released on October 2, 2020 at that time and was intended to keep that release date despite the pandemic. Later that month, Sony moved the film's release date to September 17, 2021 after that date became available due to coronavirus-related delays. Sony announced the film's title as Venom: Let There Be Carnage also at that time.
=== Music ===
Marco Beltrami was revealed to be the composer for the film in December 2020, after previously composing for several Marvel-based films produced by Parker.
== Release ==
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States on October 15, in Real D 3D and IMAX 3D. In August 2021, Sony and CJ 4DPlex announced a deal to release 15 of Sony's films over three years in the ScreenX format, starting with Let There Be Carnage. The film was previously set for release in the U.S. on October 2, 2020, before it was shifted to June 25, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was further shifted to September 17, 2021, and then to the week after. Amidst SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant surges in the United States, the film was delayed again to its current October 2021 date.
On Wednesday, January 12, 2022, it was announced that the movie would be rereleased for select theaters on the 14th, the same day it became available on home video and streaming."Back on the big screen January 14", Tweet from the VenomMovie account, January 12, 2022
=== Marketing ===
After announcing the film's official title in April 2020, Sony also released a short teaser featuring the official logo for the film. Many fans of the Venom comic books criticized the title, with some wondering why the comic book storyline title Maximum Carnage was not used. Sam Barsanti of The A.V. Club also thought Maximum Carnage would have worked better, or even Venom 2, and negatively compared the official title to films like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice(2016), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007:still home media), and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010). /Film's Ethan Anderton acknowledged these criticisms, but felt it was a great title given the first film was "surprisingly goofy". Vinnie Mancuso at Collider agreed, calling it "the perfect title for a beautifully stupid franchise". He said it suggested Sony "knows the kind of property it has on its hands". Tom Reimann, also at Collider, described the teaser as Sony "proudly showing off the logo of the new film as if the title isn't completely insane".
In March 2021, Serkis said a trailer for the film had not yet been released due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Sony waiting until audiences could see it in theaters. The film's first trailer was released in May, with Ryan Parker of The Hollywood Reporter describing it as "intense with some movements of levity". Parker highlighted Harrelson's improved wig compared to the first film, as did Collider's Rafael Motamayor, and Corey Chichizola at CinemaBlend. Chichizola praised Harrelson's performance and presence in the trailer, and expressed excitement at the brief shots of Venom and Carnage, with Michael Kennedy of Screen Rant noting that the first trailer for Venom had received negative responses for not featuring Venom in it and this trailer avoided that problem by showing both of the sequel's symbiote characters. A second trailer was released in August, with Sam Barsanti of The A. V. Club highlighting the expanded footage of Carnage as well as the continued focus on Brock and Venom's chemistry. Lauren Massuda at Collider concurred with Barsanti on both points, and felt Harrison had "taken the spotlight" of the second trailer. Based on the trailers, Massuda felt the sequel appeared more intriguing and mature than the first film, while Screen Rant's James Hunt opined that the sequel "already looks much better" than the first film in terms of tone, character, and visual effects.
=== Home Media & Streaming ===
In April 2021, Sony signed a deal giving Disney access to their legacy content, including Marvel content in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, to stream on Disney+ and Hulu and appear on Disney's linear television networks. Disney's access to Sony's titles would come following their availability on Netflix.
== Reception ==
=== Critical response ===
Venom: Let There Be Carnage received generally mixed reviews. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 58% based on 251 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A sequel aimed squarely at fans of the original's odd couple chemistry, Venom: Let There Be Carnage eagerly embraces the franchise's sillier side." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". 
Several critics view the film superior to its predecessor, while others praised the film's action sequences and mid-credit scene, as well as the performances of Harrelson and Hardy, whose roles' chemistry was also praised, but criticized its story and CGI, while they were polarized over its short runtime and increased humor compared to the first film. 
=== Audience response ===
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same as the first film, while those at PostTrak gave it a 76% positive score, with 65% saying they would definitely recommend it. However, it was lower than its predecessor's 80%, with several fans and audiences deeming the film inferior to the first film. This was possibly attributed to factors such as its romantic elements, increased comedy, lighter tone, and Serkis' direction. Nonetheless, the film received a higher audience score of 84% on RottenTomatoes than the first film's 80% (the same as PostTrak). 
== Future ==
Hardy confirmed in August 2018 that he had also signed on to star in a third Venom film.
== Videos ==
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