MOVIE NEWS – Sony Pictures’ Chief Executive Officer acknowledged that Kraven the Hunter is the studio’s most significant commercial disappointment in recent years. He attributes the underperformance of both this film and Madame Web to negative media reception.
Sony Pictures is frank about the situation, recognizing Kraven the Hunter as its most substantial underperformer in the last seven and a half years. Despite this, the studio’s CEO remains perplexed about the reasons behind its failure at the box office. “The movie underperformed, and I’m still at a loss to explain why, given that it’s not a poor quality film,” stated Tony Vinciquerra in a conversation with the LA Times, where he suggested that media criticism contributed to the film’s poor reception.
The audience and critic ratings present a mixed picture. Kraven the Hunter holds a modest 5.4/10 rating from the audience on IMDb, and a mere 15% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on over 115 reviews from international critics. Its commercial performance has been even more disappointing, earning only $43.9 million, significantly below expectations for a movie with a $130 million production budget.
“They are discouraging us from producing similar projects”
Surprisingly, Kraven the Hunter debuted with even lower box office numbers than Madame Web. Vinciquerra also commented on Madame Web’s reception: “Regarding Madame Web, it faced challenges in theaters largely due to overwhelmingly negative press. It performed reasonably well on Netflix. However, the critical reception seemed to create a narrative that we should discontinue producing films of this genre, following both Madame Web and Kraven. A similar pattern emerged with Venom, yet it ultimately achieved considerable success,” he remarked.
Sony’s CEO concedes the need to re-evaluate their approach to Marvel properties, recognizing that their future releases may face similar critical backlash regardless of their efforts. Consequently, the company might pause its theatrical releases following Kraven the Hunter, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and Tom Holland’s upcoming portrayal of the web-slinger in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Source: 3djuegos
