Most of the hardcore Marvel fans know that Venom was first introduced as Spider-Man's "bio-organic" suit during Secret Wars, and was eventually revealed to be a sapient organism ("symbiote") that he eventually peeled away from because Peter disagreed with the symbiote's influence and what it was doing to him. It's only after the rejection of the symbiote by Peter Parker that it seeks a new host, and that new host is Eddie Brock.
The recent Sony movie, Venom, separated Venom from that storyline, giving him his own genesis that had nothing to do with Spider-Man. Of course it was probably a legal decision; Spider-Man is a Marvel property, owned by Sony, and on loan to Marvel Studios (hi there, Tom Holland! waves). So eliminating him from Venom's story is a wonderful solution to a host of problems.
It's also an amazing storytelling opportunity, and the Venom scriptwriters take full advantage of that fact.
Rather than coming into this world with a pre-programmed hatred of Peter Parker, you have a blank slate, albeit an alien slate, who is open to be affected by the treatment of his host, Eddie Brock. Instead of the symbiote being rejected for being what it is (like Peter did), Eddie goes along with Venom, and learns from Venom, as well as Venom learning from Eddie. That creates a different Venom, a better Venom, a Venom that actually earns the moniker "Lethal Protector."
The greatest example of this is Venom turning against Riot and rejecting Riot's plan to bring the other symbiotes to Earth, and being affected by Eddie to the point where Venom fights to defend the planet. In fact, Venom even admits that it is Eddie who changes his mind; he experiences love through Eddie's feeling for Anne, he experiences friendship through Eddie's various relationships with Maria, Mrs. Chen, even Marcus. He even experiences a selfless version of caring by being the subject of Anne and Dan being exceptionally concerned about Eddie's health.
It could even be argued that Venom was primed to bond with Eddie through the symbiote's experiences with Maria. Eddie is kind to the homeless woman, giving her money, treating her with humanity and humor, giving her money that he obviously needed for himself. There was already a prime there, from Maria's memories, that showed Venom that Eddie was a good candidate for symbiosis. Venom could see, through Maria, that Eddie was good-sized man, not weak, and once they had achieved full symbiosis, he was able to see Eddie's side of those memories and literally experience the good and kind things that Eddie did on a regular basis.
Eddie being a reporter unrelated to Spider-Man or Peter Parker was another smart move. It established Eddie as very much a similar character to who he is in the comics; a talented reporter who cuts a few corners and gets in a lot of difficulty about it. It's even referenced that this situation with the Life Foundation is not the first time; he's left New York (Spider-Man's home territory in fact) and moved to San Francisco to start over with a new career untainted by whatever occurred in New York. It makes Eddie a stronger character because the story and his own issues rely totally on Eddie himself, his own actions, and not at all on another established character (Spider-Man).
All told, the choice to tell Venom's story separately from that of Spider-Man makes it much more engaging, because you are sympathizing with Eddie Brock and the symbiote Venom in ways that you might not be able to, if his origin story was still tied to that of Peter Parker. By giving Eddie and Venom their own legs to stand on, they both become fuller characters in their own right. After all, they are Venom and we are theirs.
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