Get ready for more Venom.
Sony Pictures has greenlit a third installment in the Tom Hardy-led “Venom” franchise, following the back-to-back box office successes of 2021’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($502 million globally) and 2018’s “Venom” ($856 million globally).
The studio also announced plans for another “Ghostbusters” installment, which will serve as a follow-up to 2021’s reboot “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” ($200 million globally). Sony revealed its plans for both sequels during its Monday evening presentation at CinemaCon, the annual trade show for theater owners. Though the studio did not share any details about either movie, it revealed that new installments were on the way.
The announcement came in the form of a mash-up reel, which included footage of the Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” “Kraven the Hunter,” “The Equalizer 3,” never-before-seen clips from Tom Hanks’ “A Man Called Otto.”
Studio chief Tom Rothman introduced the reel, heralding that the studio made diverse movies for diverse audiences or — simply — that Sony Pictures Entertainment had “something for everyone.” It’s a hard point to argue, considering the quadrants his slate is hitting between Sony, TriStar and Columbia Pictures.
In “Venom,” Hardy stars as journalist Eddie Brock and his unwitting sidekick and parasite Venom, the otherworldly lethal protector in Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters, one that is anchored by baddies like Morbius and Kraven the Hunter. Sony Pictures is working on a standalone story based on Madame Web, with Dakota Johnson slated to star in the film.
Hardy’s Venom last appeared in a credits scene of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” a box office behemoth that has grossed $1.89 billion globally.
Jason Reitman directed “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” taking the reins from his father, Ivan Reitman, who helmed the original 1984 film “Ghostbusters.” The first movie — featuring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis as ghost-catching parapsychologists — was critically and commercially successful, later spawning sequels, animated series, video games and an ill-fated 2016 reboot.
The 2021 “Ghostbusters” follow-up took place decades after the original series. The reboot centers on a family who moves to a small town and discovers their connection to the legendary ghost-catching business. Murray, Aykroyd, Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts reprised their role from the first films, while Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace and Paul Rudd joined the cast.