Sony Pictures’ Kraven the Hunter had a poor box office debut this weekend, grossing just $11 million in its three opening days. This is less than the $13-15 million previously expected.
This marks the lowest opening for any film in Sony’s Marvel catalog, and is a sad milestone for the studio that has repeated failures in its Spider-Man-related projects.
To put it bluntly, Kraven the Hunter fell victim to a stale superhero landscape, uninspired storytelling, and marketing missteps all played a role in sinking the film. It never really stood a chance in a saturated superhero market with Sony Pictures leading the pack.
Superhero fatigue is real, and standalone projects in Sony’s Spider-Man universe seem to be suffering the most. After the sad reception of Morbius ($73.8 million) and Mrs. Web ($43.8 million), Kraven the Hunter it’s the latest proof that Sony’s formula is wrong.
The studio’s Spider-Man universe films lack the creative oversight of industry heavyweights like Phil Lord AND Chris Millerwhich elevated the Spider-Verse animated film or Marvel Studios Kevin Feigewho created the Tom Holland Spider-Man movie together with the producer Amy Pascal.
The numbers don’t lie! Sony’s Spider-Verse and Holland-led Spider-Man films have collectively grossed $6.85 billion worldwide, while the live-action spinoffs struggle to even make a dent.
RelishMix, a social media analytics company, has noticed an alarming lack of buzz out there Kraven the Hunter. The film generated just 278.9 million social media impressions across major platforms, far below the 599 million The Wonders or 424M for Mrs. Web. This lack of online engagement reflected waning public interest in yet another spin-off centered on a C-list comic book character.
As for the poor word of mouth Kraven the Hunter which RelishMix noted: “Many moviegoers are uneasy in their apprehension about taking a C-list comic book character and giving him his own movie.
“Comments include: ‘He’s a super-VILLAIN! Why does Sony want to make Spider-man’s rogues gallery look good?!’ and “Here’s Sony’s annual.”
“Others were disappointed by the CGI: ‘It looked cool until that tiger/whatever part, the expectation changed from “cool” to “dumb” pretty quickly,’ and ‘It looks like the rhino didn’t finish rendering.’”
Then there is the poor word of mouth which quickly made any hope of recovery disappear.
Sony insists it hasn’t reduced its marketing budget, but industry insiders suggest otherwise. Although the studio initially booked an aggressive promotional campaign, some pre-booked television spots were pulled before release. This isn’t the first time Sony has tried to mitigate losses by cutting back on its promotional efforts late in the game.
As one source noted, “Sony isn’t stupid. He won’t throw good money after bad. The studio reportedly reduced its financial exposure by shifting the burden to co-financier TSG Entertainment, cutting Sony’s stake in the game from 75% to 50%.
Despite this flop, Sony does not give up on the director JC Chandorwho is already attached to an upcoming dramatic thriller for the studio. However, when it comes to its Marvel properties, Sony is reportedly in full recovery mode.
An industry insider described the studio’s new approach as “ruthless,” with a greater focus on the question of whether Spider-Man’s allies and enemies are worth further developing.
Kraven the HunterThe $11 million opening is a wake-up call for Sony and the superhero genre in general. You can’t keep superhero movies “on the shelf” for too long without them losing relevance. This is a lesson the studio learned the hard way.
Unless studios can reinvigorate the genre with new ideas, Kraven’s the fate may soon be shared by others.
Source: deadline
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
