Critics gave "Venom" a trouncing, but that didn't stop the Tom Hardy-starring film from landing an all-time best October opening night.

According to Boxofficemojo.com, "Venom" took in $10 million from Thursday night previews at 3,543 locations. The beats "Paranormal Activity 3," which earned $8 million in previews and $52.6 million in its first weekend in 2011.

Boxofficemojo. com reports that Sony is expecting a $55 million opening, but Deadline projects "Venom"'s opening weekend take could be as high as $65 or $70 million.

It looks likely to beat "Gravity," which set a best October opening in 2013 with $55.7 million.

Meanwhile, Oscar bait "A Star is Born" is doing quite well with a projected $41 million opening.

Together, both films will probably exceed the weekend in October 2015 when "The Martian" opened with $54 million, followed by "Hotel Transylvania 2" with $33 million and "Sicario" with $12 million.

[Via Boxofficemojo.com and Deadline]