Madame Web hasn’t been fulfilling the expectations of a superhero film. One week after its February 12th premiere, the Sony Pictures Releasing film has endured scathing reviews and box office numbers. To make matters worse, a theater chain insider claims that advance ticket sales plummeted due to buyers refunding their tickets.
The reception of Madame Web’s trailer already received mockery and criticism for its ambiguous ties to Spider-Man. The movie itself got 13% on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest score for a superhero film in close to a decade. According to THR, a major theatrical chain insider made claims about just how badly ticket sales were impacted based on its rough start.
“On Wednesday night, you could actually watch advance purchase sales declining in real time as buyers were refunding their tickets. It really says something when you’d rather have Shazam! 2 numbers.”
Critics gave DC‘s Shazam! Fury of the Gods mixed reviews and bombed at the box office. The superhero sequel grossed $134 million against a budget of $110-125 million. What’s more, critics panned Morbius, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe’s previous film, and it only made $167.5 million worldwide. It had a good start, grossing $39 million on its first weekend, only to experience a 74% drop on its second weekend at $10.2 million. Sony will now have to rethink how to make comic book adaptations going forward.
Is There Hope for a Madame Web Sequel?
Things don’t look good for Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff. A franchise was expected to branch out about the three Spider-Women under the guide of Cassie Web. Due to the film’s underperformance, however, it doesn’t appear that’s going to happen. Madame Web’s box office numbers were disappointing in achieving only a low $52 million range on a reported $80 million budget.
One industry veteran gave their theory on the state of a Madame Web continuation.
“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.”
It was absolutely a different superhero movie, going for more of a suspense thriller tone. Another unique contrast Madame Web accomplished was having female superheroes take the lead compared to a typical male cast. However, it looks like those methods didn’t work well for the box office-bombed movie.
The insider alleged that Sony felt discouraged over the canceled franchise. Apparently, the success of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe’s next movie would be the deciding factor in reshaping Sony’s entire Spidey franchise.
“We are in transition when it comes to superhero movies,” states the insider. “I don’t know how big that transition is or what the other side looks like. It may be fewer movies, but bigger brands. Sony is willing to take some risk but also wants home runs — that’s good. And if [Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man Universe title] Kraven is a gigantic hit, the narrative could be completely different. So it’s too early to know the outcome.”
It looks like the SSU will depend on Kraven the Hunter. People may be asking for refunds for their Madame Web tickets now, but critics predict the panned film could be a camp classic fans will appreciate later.
