First Man opens under expectations with $16 million, coming in below Venom and A Star Is Born

Ryan Gosling's First Man did not quite achieve lift-off.

The Neil Armstrong biopic came in third place at the box office this weekend, with last week's releases, Venom and A Star Is Born, taking the number one and number two slots respectively, Box Office Mojo reports. It earned $16.5 million, despite projections it would break $20 million and potentially even $25 million, per Variety. But although it had this weak start, the film could still end up being a success if it holds steady over the coming weeks, a distinct possibility considering the amount of Oscar buzz it has.

It seems A Star Is Born, another critically-acclaimed movie with Oscar buzz, may have just taken the wind out of its sails, as the Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga musical grossed $28 million this weekend. That's only down about 33 percent compared to its debut, and it brings the film's total gross to nearly $100 million.

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The biggest success story of the month, though, is Venom, which took the number one spot once again this weekend and grossed another $35 million after having the best October opening of all time. This brings the comic book film, based on the Spider-Man source material but without Spider-Man actually being in it, up to a domestic total of $142 million and counting, a massive success for Sony and a clear indicator that their planned universe of Spider-Man films has gotten off on the right foot with audiences.