Kraven the Hunter failed in its mission to track down moviegoers this week as the movie made a mere $2 million in Thursday previews at the North American box office.
This is in line with expectations, though, and short of a cataclysmic drop, the latest of Sony's Spider-Man spin-offs is still eyeing a $13 million - $15 million opening weekend. Kraven the Hunter's budget was originally a modest $90 million but COVID and last year's strikes pushed it to $110 million, making it that little bit harder for the studio to turn a profit.
For comparison's sake, Morbius made $5.7 million on its first Thursday. Madame Web, meanwhile, opened with $6 million when it hit theaters on a Wednesday (which was Valentine's Day and a busier-than-usual day for exhibitors).
That eventually went on to gross $15.3 million during its opening weekend, a figure Kraven the Hunter is likely to fall short of. In fact, it will probably be the lowest-grossing debut for any movie in Sony's Spider-Man Universe.
Wicked should easily beat Kraven the Hunter to second place as it's eyeing $18 million - $20 million during its fourth weekend in theaters. As for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, it will have to settle for a soft $6 million - $7 million launch.
At #1 will be Moana 2 with $25 million - $28 million during its third weekend at the top.
Kraven the Hunter currently has a 14% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a surprisingly high 68% Audience Score. However, that's based on only "100+" verified reviews, so it may be a few more days until we get a better idea of what fans made of this one.
It's never good to see a comic book movie flop, but make no mistake about it; all signs point to this one being a huge box office bomb.
Whether Kraven the Hunter overperforms or underperforms this weekend remains to be seen, but we'll keep you updated as the numbers keep rolling in.
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.