As reported by Daily Mail, Sony Pictures is pointing fingers at Dakota Johnson for ‘Madame Web’s negative performance both critically and at the box office.
Sources close to the studio voiced concerns over Johnson’s public criticism of the film, which they believe contributed to its negative reception. As per Daily Mail, these insiders claimed her reaction to the film’s reception will continue to haunt the actress throughout her career:
“Lots of people at Sony are questioning her star power, and how she reacted to this failure will likely come back to haunt her. It is OK to joke about your movie not doing well and even lean into the bad reviews like Sydney Sweeney did on SNL with her monologue — but producers and Sony aren’t laughing over Dakota’s continued dragging about how she sees the fallout of ‘Madame Web’ and how she isn’t taking any responsibility for its lackluster results.”
They then said Dakota caused a bad look by ‘sh*tting’ on the movie and argued things would be way too much different if ‘Madame Web’ was instead a box office success:
“Not every movie is going to work, but a lot of hard work goes into even bad movies, and for your star to sh*t on it is a bad look. Dakota is being looked down on over her talk of the film because everyone in the production is thinking, what if the movie was still the same but also a box office gem? She would be talking about sequels and probably praising herself over its good fortune.”
With an $80 million budget, ‘Madame Web’ received only $51.5 million worldwide on its opening weekend and has since struggled to make an impact. The film, which sought to expand Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters, was met with harsh criticism upon its release, securing a disappointing 12% critics score and a 57% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
What Did Johnson Say About ‘Madame Web’?
Johnson openly expressed her concerns about the movie’s success in various interviews. Following the release of Madame Web, she came forward and said the movie had undergone ‘drastic changes,’ suggesting these might be the cause of its poor reception.
Speaking with Magic FM, Johnson admitted she didn’t even watch the movie:
“I haven’t actually seen the movie. I probably won’t… I don’t know when I’ll see it. Someday.”
In a more recent interview, the actress agreed that she doesn’t make sense in the superhero realm, and this might be her last foray into the universe.
The response to Johnson’s statements contrasts sharply with the studio’s reception of Sydney Sweeney’s humorous take on the film’s failure during her appearance on Saturday Night Live, which was met with approval.
‘Madame Web’ is part of Sony’s broader strategy to develop its Spider-Man universe independently of the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie’s reception mirrors the fate of previous Sony Marvel ventures like ‘Morbius.‘ With ‘Kraven the Hunter‘ set to release on August 30, this suggests that they may need to rethink their approach for future releases.
