Were Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter actually good? Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra blames journalists for their recent string of flops.
Slapstick is the truest form of comedy. From yanking the football away from Charlie Brown to Sideshow Bob stepping on a rake, watching someone get hurt doing the same thing over and over again will never not be funny. The modern version of this comes in the form of Sony Pictures, who have been stepping on the same rake for nearly three years in the form of blockbuster bombs like Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter.
Fans and critics alike have panned the films for being boring, soulless cash grabs meant to capitalize on the modern superhero gold rush. However, it seems Sony Pictures disagrees. CEO Tony Vinciquerra recently defended projects like Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter, placing the blame on entertainment journalists for the perception that their good films are odious.
“We’ve had mostly very, very good results,” Vinciquerra explained to the Los Angeles Times. “Unfortunately, [Kraven the Hunter] that we launched last weekend, and my last film launch, is probably the worst launch we had in the 7 1/2 years so that didn’t work out very well, which I still don’t understand, because the film is not a bad film.”
“Let’s just touch on Madame Web for a moment. Madame Web underperformed in the theaters because the press just crucified it. It was not a bad film, and it did great on Netflix. For some reason, the press decided that they didn’t want us making these films out of Kraven and Madame Web, and the critics just destroyed them. They also did it with Venom, but the audience loved Venom and made Venom a massive hit. These are not terrible films. They were just destroyed by the critics in the press, for some reason.”
The Future Of Sony’s Villain Films
Are there valid criticisms of how entertainment journalism has treated superhero films over the past few years? Of course. However, in the case of movies like Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter, it seems to be that audiences have just grown wise to Sony Pictures’ schtick. That’s something Tony Vinciquerra also understands, as he also explained that they’re now reconsidering their future when it comes to live-action Spider-Man villain films.
“I do think we need to rethink it, just because it’s snake-bitten. If we put another one out, it’s going to get destroyed, no matter how good or bad it is.”
At the end of the day movies, like anything else, are a PR war. If audiences can’t be convinced to go to films, they won’t go. Up until now, Sony Pictures has inflated projects like Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web with teases of Spider-Man appearing. Yet now that the well of goodwill has run dry, the only reasonable path forward seems to be making quality projects to convince fans to see films on their own merits. Though given the quality of these movies, it may be best to just wait a few years and try the Spider-Man angle again!
Kraven the Hunter is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned for all the latest news regarding the Aaron Taylor-Johnson movie and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more content!
