"Critics Destroyed Them": Sony Pictures CEO On Why 'Kraven The Hunter' And 'Madame Web' Flopped

Sony Pictures CEO Tony Vinciquerra has claimed that critics are responsible for the failure of Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web at the box office. The outgoing Song executive who leaves the position on January 2, 2025, said the anti-hero movies developed by the company were not necessarily bad films but they bombed after critics launched a negative campaign against them.

"Madame Web underperformed in the theatres because the press just crucified it. It wasn't a bad film and it did great on Netflix," Mr Vinciquerra told the Los Angeles Times.

"For some reason, the press decided that they didn't want us making these films out of Kraven and Madame Web and the critics just destroyed them. They also did it with Venom, but the audience loved Venom and made Venom a massive hit," he said.

Mr Vinciquerra was speaking after Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson failed to catch the attention of fans. The film, which had a budget of $110 million, could only bring in $18 million domestic haul and a global gross of $43 million. The Sony boss admitted that the Marvel flick was "probably the worst launch" he had in his nearly eight-year tenure at Sony.

"These are not terrible films. They were just destroyed by the critics in the press, for some reason."

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'Studio needs a rethink'

Mr Vinciquerra added that the lacklustre critical reception of Sony's Marvel movies should lead to a "rethink" in the studio about how they need to proceed with new "Spider-Man" movies.

"It's snake-bitten. If we put another one out, it's going to get destroyed, no matter how good or bad it is," he explained.

Sony's slate of Spider-Man villain spinoffs has been a creative and commercial debacle. Barring the first two instalments of Venom, starring Tom Hardy, Sony has failed to introduce a product that justifies the existence of its universe in parallel with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The first Venom made $856.1m while the 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage amassed $506.8m. The third and final entry in the series, Venom: The Last Dance, grossed $475.5 million. While Venom did make money, fans still criticised it for not having Spider-Man as the primary hero. Madame Web and Kraven also faced similar criticism.