Madame Web's box office flop has cancelled plans for a new superhero franchise at Sony
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Sony Pictures' Madame Web scored one of the lowest superhero box office debuts in recent memory, which has essentially cancelled a possible franchise at the studio.
The film grossed a meager $26.2 million in its first six days since debuting mid-week on Valentine's Day, through Monday's President's Day holiday.
That tally became one of the lowest opening totals for any film based on a Marvel Comics character.
The studio did have plans on starting a new franchise based on Dakota Johnson's title character and three other female charcters played by Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced and Celeste O'Connor.
However, now insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that, given the atrocious box office receipts, there likely won't be another Madame Web movie for another decade.
'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,' an insider told THR.
While some superhero movies like Morbius failed to impress critics and fans but still fared well internationall and pulled in $170 million worldwide, that likely won't happen with Madame Web.
It earned a paltry $25.7 from foreign markets for a worldwide debut of just $51.9 million, from a reported budget of $80 million that many sources claim is actually north of $100 million.
It still has yet to debut in China, easily the biggest and most important foreign market, with the Middle Kingdom debut set for March 1 and South Korea to follow as the final foreign market on March 13.
Still, it seems there is little hope that the Chinese release can offset all of the box office negativity surrounding the film.
The abysmal critical reaction - 13% from the Rotten Tomatoes critics, one of the worst ever for any superhero movie - didn't help matters either.
In fact, it seemed the dreadful reviews even lead to multiple cancellations of advance ticket sales.
'On Wednesday night, you could actually watch advance purchase sales declining in real time as buyers were refunding their tickets,' said a 'major theatrical chain insider.'
The insider added, 'It really says something when you’d rather have Shazam! 2 numbers,' referring to 2023's Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
That film was expected to earn between $35 million and $40 million in its domestic debut, though it underwhelmed with $30.5 million from 4,071 theaters.
It didn't fare much better internationally, with another $35 million from 77 foreign markets for a worldwide debut of $65.5 million.
It went on to gross $57.6 million domestically and $134 million worldwide from a reported $110 million production budget.
That budget also doesn't account for the additional $100 million Warner Bros. spent to market it.
While it remains to be seen what Madame Web will actually pull in when all the numbers are tallied, it will likely be far less than Shazam 2.
The studio seeminly had high hopes for Madame Web, with the film teasing her connection to Peter Parker a.k.a Spider-Man whose birth is shown in the film.
The film - one of the few superhero movies to have a female director (S.J. Clarkson) - took a unique approach in crafting a suspense thriller aimed at women and young girls.
One insider claimed, 'I don’t know if women are enough to carry the box office here,' with a typical superhero movie having an audience between 65% and 70% male.
The female audience for Madame Web was only 46%, with another insider adding that superhero movies are in a time of 'transition.'
'We are in transition when it comes to superhero movies. I don’t know how big that transition is or what the other side looks like. It may be fewer movies, but bigger brands,' the insider said.
'Sony is willing to take some risk but also wants home runs — that’s good. And if (Sony's) Kraven is a gigantic hit, the narrative could be completely different. So it’s too early to know the outcome,' the insider added.
While the movie didn't get great reviews, some claim Madame Web could find another life as a campy cult classic, though it's too soon to tell.