Sony Pictures' Kraven the Hunter is now available on Digital platforms, and its final box office numbers are in.
The studio's latest SSU movie took in just $59 million worldwide over the course of its box office run. While this doesn't put it on the same level as something like 20th Century Fox's The New Mutants (just over $20 million), for example, factoring in Kraven's budget - reportedly over $150 million before P&A - and length of time in theaters marks it as one of the lowest-grossing superhero movies of all time (even the much-maligned Madame Web managed to pass $100M).
Kraven's failure may have effectively served as the final nail in the coffin for these Spider-Man-less Spider-Man spin-offs, but there may be life in the SSU yet. Deadline recently reported that Sony is "taking this misfire very seriously," and "has a reset in store."
We're not sure what this means for the projects that were either already in development or being discussed (Agent Venom, a Sinister Six movie, etc), but wouldn't be at all surprised if the studio went back to the drawing board and scrapped any ideas that may have been in place.
Is a franchise focused on Spider-Man characters without the iconic wall-crawler something even worth attempting to salvage? Many fans would say no, but there's no denying the success of the Venom trilogy (The Last Dance was the worst box office performer of the three, but still made a lot more than Morbius and Madame Web).
It's worth mentioning that a lot of people think Kraven was treated a little harshly - including Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra.
While speaking to the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview, Vinciquerra admitted that Kraven is “probably the worst launch we had” in the nearly eight years he’s been at the studio. “I still don’t understand," he added. "Because the film is not a bad film.”
“Kraven the Hunter is the visceral story about how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Set before his notorious vendetta with Spider-Man, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as the titular character in the R-rated film.”
Kraven the Hunter is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is intended to be the sixth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The film was directed by J. C. Chandor and written by Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Richard Wenk.
In addition to Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the title role, Ariana DeBose will play Calypso, a voodoo priestess and Kraven's on-off love interest (in the comics, at least); Fred Hechinger is Dmitri Smerdyakov, aka the Chameleon, who is Kraven's half-brother; Alessandro Nivola will play Aleksei Sytsevich, aka the Rhino, and Christopher Abbott will portray another villain known as the Foreigner.
The movie has been rated R for "Strong bloody violence, and language."