Kraven the Hunter is Sony Pictures’ worst film launch since present CEO Tony Vinciquerra took the job again in 2017, he has admitted.
The Sony Spider-Man Universe film stars Kick Ass and Marvel Cinematic Universe actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson because the titular villain, a talented hunter who units his sights on Spider-Man after conquering all different prey within the animal kingdom.
Kraven bombed on the field workplace with a paltry $11 million home haul from 3,211 theatres throughout launch weekend. That determine was sufficient to set an undesirable report: the worst ever opening for a Sony Spider-Man Universe film. The R-rated motion flick got here in beneath the equally disastrous Madame Web, which introduced in simply $15.3 million throughout its launch weekend earlier this yr, in addition to all of the Venom films and 2022’s Morbius ($39 million). Kraven’s present $43,877,089 worldwide field workplace is particularly terrible given the film value an estimated $110 million to supply. When you add on advertising spend, Kraven is about for a giant loss.
In an interview with the LA Times, outgoing Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra described Kraven the Hunter as “most likely the worst launch we had within the seven-and-a-half years” since he took the job, earlier than occurring to precise his shock on the movie’s disappointing field workplace haul: “in order that didn’t work out very nicely, which I nonetheless don’t perceive, as a result of the movie just isn’t a nasty movie.”
In the identical interview, Vinciquerra mentioned Madame Web’s launch, blaming its field workplace on the press. Indeed, Vinciquerra recommended the press was responsible for all of the Sony Spider-Man Universe failures, pointing to the Venom trilogy’s success as coming regardless of this obvious marketing campaign from critics.
“Madame Web underperformed within the theaters as a result of the press simply crucified it,” Vinciquerra claimed. “It was not a nasty movie, and it did nice on Netflix. For some motive, the press determined that they didn’t need us making these movies out of Kraven and Madame Web, and the critics simply destroyed them. They additionally did it with Venom, however the viewers liked Venom and made Venom an enormous hit. These are usually not horrible movies. They have been simply destroyed by the critics within the press, for some motive.”
Sony’s Spider-Man universe formally consists of six movies, listed right here alongside their IGN evaluation scores: Venom (4/10), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (7/10), Morbius (5/10), Madame Web (5/10), Venom: The Last Dance (4/10), and Kraven the Hunter (3/10).
The query now’s, is Kraven the ultimate nail within the coffin for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, a universe that, remarkably, doesn’t function Spider-Man? Earlier this month a number one expertise agent informed The Wrap that Sony had “developed what they wish to develop for now” and was as a substitute specializing in the subsequent precise Spider-Man movie beneath Marvel Studios, which is confirmed by star Tom Holland to start filming in 2025. As a degree of comparability, Spider-Man: No Way Home pulled in $587.2 million in its weekend field workplace debut.
Vinciquerra admitted Sony must “rethink” its Spider-Man universe technique, however blamed the necessity to try this on the press, quite than any deficiencies at Sony Pictures itself. “I do suppose we have to rethink it, simply because it’s snake-bitten,” he stated. “If we put one other one out, it’s going to get destroyed, irrespective of how good or dangerous it’s.”
Overall, Vinciquerra insisted, Sony Pictures’ movie effort has been “very profitable” throughout his tenure as CEO, beating the corporate’s budgets annually since 2017. “It was run, and the movie studio was a giant a part of it,” he stated.
Sony has the aforementioned Spider-Man 4 to sit up for, a minimum of. It arrives on July 24, 2026 as a continuation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe trilogy once more starring Holland. It might even introduce Miles Morales into the MCU, one thing Holland is personally invested in.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
