Kraven the Hunter had a disastrous opening weekend at the North American box office with a mere $11 million. There was no saving what could be the final chapter in "Sony's Spider-Man Universe" overseas either; internationally, it grossed only $15 million.
The movie, which arguably features a far more popular lead character than either Morbius or Madame Web, promises to be Sony Pictures' biggest Marvel flop yet. Unsurprisingly, there are now rumblings online about the Spider-Man rights being sold back to Marvel Studios as the struggling studio cuts its losses.
While only time will tell what happens there, things went from bad to worse for Kraven the Hunter yesterday.
The movie grossed only $830,000, a massive -66.1% drop from Sunday which takes its domestic cume to $11.8 million. For context, Wonder Woman 1984 was released in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time in the middle of the pandemic and still managed to make $1.8 million during its first Monday (only 30% of theaters were open and most had 10% limited capacity).
Simply put, there are disasters and then there's Kraven the Hunter. Sony Pictures is bound to have been left reeling by this worse-than-expected performance, and moviegoers have sent the studio a clear message: they don't want these films.
Still, despite boasting only a 15% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics, the movie has a far fresher 73% from fans. It's not that number most choose to pay attention to, though, and the current Critics Consensus reads, "Claiming no trophies with its rote story and shoddy special effects, Kraven the Hunter turns out to be a paper tiger."
As we write this, Sony is expected to focus primarily on Spider-Man 4, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and TV series Spider-Noir moving forward. No further spin-offs are believed to be in active development after the plug was pulled on Bad Bunny's El Muerto.
Stay tuned for updates and let us know how you'd rate the movie in the poll below.
Kraven the Hunter is the action-packed, R-rated, standalone story of how one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven, a man whose complex relationship with his ruthless gangster father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
The cast also includes Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, and Russell Crowe.
Kraven the Hunter is now playing in theaters.