Sony Is Making a New ‘Venom’ Movie, and Fans Were NOT Ready for This

Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has spent years chasing the kind of runaway success that ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ achieved with animation, and it looks like that strategy is finally extending to one of the studio’s most bankable characters. With ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ currently dominating theaters, Sony’s broader plans for its shared universe are once again coming into focus.

Tom Hardy’s live-action take on Eddie Brock and Venom carried the studio through three feature films, collectively grossing well over $1.8 billion worldwide despite a mixed critical reception across the trilogy. That commercial track record, paired with the character’s massive built-in fanbase, made Venom an obvious candidate for Sony to keep developing, even as other live-action spinoffs like ‘Morbius’ and ‘Madame Web’ struggled badly at the box office.

Producer Amy Pascal has now confirmed that Sony’s next Venom project will indeed be an animated feature, a significant departure from the character’s live-action roots. Pascal shared the update during an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, aligning with earlier reporting from The Hollywood Reporter that first revealed the project’s existence back in February.

According to that original report, the animated Venom film is being directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, the filmmaking duo behind 2025’s surprise horror hit ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines.’ Pascal is set to produce alongside longtime Venom collaborators Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, continuing a producing partnership that has spanned the entire live-action trilogy.

Hardy himself is reportedly staying involved with the project in some capacity, though it remains unclear whether he’ll return to voice Eddie Brock and Venom or simply serve as a producer behind the scenes. Kelly Marcel, who wrote all three live-action Venom films and directed ‘The Last Dance,’ is also attached as a producer, though she won’t be penning the animated film’s script.

Instead, Sony Pictures Animation is opening up a full writers’ room to develop the project, a process that suggests the film is still in relatively early stages of development. No release date or additional casting has been announced, and it’s worth noting that ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ creators Phil Lord and Chris Miller are not currently attached to the project.

This pivot toward animation fits into a broader pattern for Sony, which has increasingly leaned on its animation division following the massive success of the ‘Spider-Verse’ franchise. With ‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse’ still on the horizon for 2027, Sony appears to be betting that animation offers a more reliable path forward for its Marvel characters than live-action spinoffs have provided in recent years.

That strategy carries obvious appeal given Venom’s box office trajectory across its three live-action films, which saw diminishing returns with each subsequent release. ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ closed out the trilogy in 2024 with $478.9 million worldwide, the lowest total of the three films despite still turning a profit for the studio.

With Pascal now publicly confirming the project’s existence during her ongoing press rounds for ‘Brand New Day,’ fans have official word straight from one of Sony’s most influential producers that Venom’s next chapter is indeed headed in an entirely new creative direction. Whether that animated reinvention can recapture the character’s earlier box office momentum remains to be seen, but the ambition behind the move is clear.

What do you think about Sony taking Venom into animated territory after three live-action films? Share your thoughts in the comments.