The new Columbia/Marvel superhero film Venom: The Last Dance failed to match the openings of the series’ two previous episodes but still easily topped the North American box office with ticket sales estimated at $51 million, industry watchers said.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the follow-up to the original Venom, had enjoyed a $96 million opening weekend in 2021, but Last Dance faced stiff competition for viewers from a baseball World Series featuring the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Tom Hardy again plays a disgruntled journalist who morphs into a terrifying alien with huge jagged teeth — and what has been described as a Gene Simmons tongue — in a cast that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple and Rhys Ifans.

Meanwhile, with Halloween only days away, Paramount’s horror film Smile 2 slipped just one spot from last weekend’s opening, taking in $40.7 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday. Naomi Scott plays a troubled pop star afflicted by a grim curse.

Third place went to the new religious thriller Conclave from FilmNation, with $6.5 million. Ralph Fiennes, playing a cardinal called on to “manage” the election of a new pope, finds himself caught in shadowy, back-stabbing intrigue while wrestling with questions of his own faith  — and ambition.

Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow play fellow cardinals, each with his own agenda, and Isabella Rossellini is a nun of steely countenance.   

Analyst David A Gross said the film, with “sensational critics’ reviews,” is well-positioned in the Oscars Best Picture race. Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) directed the film, which is based on a Robert Harris thriller.

In fourth, down two spots, was Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot, about a robot having to get along witih fuzzy woodland creatures after being stranded on a remote island. It took in $6.5 million.

And hanging steady in fifth was We Live in Time, a romantic drama from StudioCanal, at $4.8 million. Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh star.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Terrifier 3” ($4.8 million)

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” ($3.2 million)

“Piece by Piece” ($720,000)

“Transformers One” ($720,000)