Sydney Sweeney reportedly agreed to star in Sony’s ‘Madame Web’ for a very strategic reason.
According to a recent report by The Hollywood Reporter, she took the opportunity to secure the green light for another project: the romantic comedy ‘Anyone But You.’ The gamble seems to have paid off, as ‘Anyone But You’ went on to make over $200 million at the box office.
‘Madame Web,’ however, wasn’t as successful. The movie had a well-known cast with stars like Dakota Johnson, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor, but it faced significant issues. Reports suggest that the movie went through a last-minute script rework and was rushed through production. ‘Madame Web’ currently holds an 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This makes it one of the least successful movies in Sony’s Marvel lineup.
In ‘Madame Web,’ Dakota Johnson plays Cassandra Webb. She’s a paramedic in Manhattan who discovers she has special clairvoyant abilities. Her character has to protect a group of young women — Julia Carpenter (Sydney Sweeney), Mattie Franklin (Isabela Merced), and Anya Corazón (Celeste O’Connor) — from a mysterious villain named Ezekiel Simms. Simms resembles Spider-Man, and he’s targeting these young women because of their future powers, as they are all destined to become heroes with Spider-like abilities.
‘Madame Web’s storyline aimed to introduce the Marvel character Cassandra Webb, but the film’s rushed production probably altered the vision that the cast initially signed up for.
There’s no proof that Sweeney or the other cast members knew the movie would struggle, but her decision to join the cast seems to be a strategic career move. She secured Sony’s support for ‘Anyone But You,’ and it ended up a major hit. Sweeney is now one of the most sought-after and well-paid actresses in the industry.
