By now, it’s no secret that Sony’s new film, “Madame Web,” did not do well at the box office. For the 6-day totals from Valentine’s Day on Wednesday through President’s Day today, the film only brought in about $26 million domestically and almost the same amount internationally. (No Hollywood, six days is a week, not a “holiday weekend.”)
Reports about the disappointment of the film have reached a new level as The Hollywood Report (THR) spoke to a “theatrical chain insider” who told them that they could see people canceling their advance purchase tickets on opening night!
“On Wednesday night, you could actually watch advance purchase sales declining in real time as buyers were refunding their tickets. It really says something when you’d rather have Shazam! 2 numbers.”
That is bad!
So far, the film is being panned by audiences and critics alike and currently has a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Queue the articles blaming the film’s failure on men.
Turns out the majority of the audience for “Madame Web” was male. 53% of those who showed up were male, while 47% of the audience was female.
Not that it matters, as audiences didn’t turn up for the film either way.
Why didn’t audiences come?
There is a lot of speculation on why the audience didn’t come to the film. Many are pointing out the “superhero fatigue” that seems to be plaguing Marvel, DC, and now Sony. It could also be that many people do not know who Madame Web is. Also, the trailer and story were not compelling to many people. Bad reviews did not help and likely caused the ticket refunding mentioned above.
How much did “Madame Web” cost?
Originally, many thought the film cost about $80 million (not counting promotion, theater cuts, etc.) Turns out that the film likely cost over $100 million.
THR said, “…the actual number is in the low $100 million range, according to several sources.”
Given normal estimates, the film would likely have to earn back $250-$300 million to break even. Given the promotion, I’m leaning towards the upper number or even more than that.
People barely turn up for characters they know, let alone ones they don’t. Not every side character needs their own film. Audiences want more “Barbie” and less “Madame Web.”
What do you think? Comment and let us know.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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