Madame Web, Sony's latest Marvel superhero film, has been a massive box office bomb
Till recently, superhero films were considered a safe bet when it came to box office returns. While superhero films have been big box office draw for decades, it was the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that transformed things for the genre starting 2007. However, post-pandemic, things have been changing, with many superhero films flopping at the box office. The most recent and arguably the biggest flop of them all may just have killed a franchise.
The box office disaster of Madame Web
Sony Pictures produced its latest instalment of superhero films based on characters from the Spider-Man universe – Madame Web. The film, led by Dakota Johnson in the title role also featured Isabela Merced, Celeste O’Connor and Sydney Sweeney, and was meant to start a new franchise. The female-led film was directed by SJ Clarkson and was expected to be Sony’s winter tentpole. However, pretty early on, signs were ominous for the film’s box office performance when advance bookings remained low. Then, as the first reviews came out negative, the word of mouth dried up and the film had a very low opening.
How Madame Web lost out at the box office
As per reports, Madame Web has earned only $51.9 million worldwide in its first six days of release, and is expected to close out under $100 million, a new low for any superhero film in over two decades. Given that the reported budget of the film is around $115 million (Rs 950 crore), that is a massive underperformance. The film is even losing out to a musical biopic at the box office. Bob Marley: One Love, the biopic of the reggae legend, has been beating Madame Web at the box office both in North America and worldwide. The most scathing feedback has been reports of people cancelling and refunding tickets after negative reviews. A report from The Hollywood Reporter quoted an industry insider as saying, “On Wednesday night, you could actually watch advance purchase sales declining in real time as buyers were refunding their tickets.”
How Madame Web’s failure affects Sony’s future
Madame Web is not part of the larger MCU but was made to start a franchise, introducing three supporting characters, all ripe for their own spinoffs. Of them, Sydney Sweeney is one of the biggest global stars of her age and was expected to lead her own film soon. However, the film’s failure has put all of that on the backburner. The Hollywood Reporter quoted another source as saying, ““We’re not going to see another Madame Web movie for another decade-plus. It failed. Sony tried to make a movie that was a different type of superhero movie.”
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 "A still from Madame Web")
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