Sony’s latest attempt to make Kraven the Hunter into the world’s next popular superhero falls short at the box office. Aaron Taylor-Johnson does the impossible by scaling up soiled walls with his bare hands and feet with amazing speed and agility. There doesn’t seem to be a foe that can stand against him as he uses his hands, ripping apart the bad guys like a wild animal with only the aid of a tiger cat’s tooth. Kraven shows no mercy with his deadly arsenal on screen; however, Sony fails to make a killing at the box office.
Kraven’s Disappointing Start
What Did Sony Have To Work With?
Kraven the Hunter opened to the world and grossed $11 million in its first three days in the theatres. It only made it to the third spot but still failed to outdo Moana 2, which has been playing for three weeks, and Wicked, which is now in its fourth. Sony’s track record has been failing lately with Joker: Folie a Deux, October’s Venom: The Last Dance, and Morbius. With the only exception of Deadpool & Wolverine, superhero movies have not been packing audiences in lately.
Sony has been working on building Spiderman’s villains for some time now with Venom, Morbius, and now Kraven. Over time, they have not been drawing attention to what popcorn eaters want. The first Venom movie grossed over $850 million globally, while Venom: The Last Dance barely grossed half that amount. Deadpool & Wolverine made a mind-blowing $1.3 billion over the summer.
What Went Wrong
Kraven is the sixth SCU installment with a budget of $90 million, which changed over time, costing $110 million for various reasons. That is almost half of what was given to movies before the COVID-19 Pandemic. It is also the fourth superhero movie that suffered a shocking loss, and it is not likely that we will get a sequel. This blow to Sony and Kraven’s failure may be due to various factors. One of which is that it was released alongside Lord of Rings: The War of Rohirrim.
However, The War of Rohirrim, sadly didn’t fare very well either, making less than $5 million. So, it may not be because of another recent release from a competitor. Another problem for Kraven was its reviews. It has a 15% critical approval from Rotten Tomatoes. However, audiences have given it a 73% approval. So those few going to see it, do like it, but sadly, they are few in number.
How Sony Sank Kraven Into Disappointment
The next problem that may have led to Kraven’s downfall is the budget. The movie’s budget increase due to actors’ and writers’ strikes, as well as other reasons, didn’t help put the money into making it the best it possibly could be. This is a gamble as if they had, they could have made it better, or perhaps it would have been spending more money on a dead horse. Morbius is a good example as, despite being a flop, it had a budget of $75 million.
Something else related to the film’s difficulty is Kraven’s character himself. He isn’t as well known as other heroes who have thrilled us on the screen. Some spin-off characters of those whom we know well have been Shang-Chi, Eternals, Blue Beetle, and Black Adam. Many people aren’t as familiar with Kraven but he does have a small fan base from Spider-Man stories.
Should Sony Continue Making Marvel Films?
With this most recent disappointment for Kraven, the Venom trilogy ending, and Madame Web not doing well, it may be the end of any other Spider-Man spin-offs. Sony’s Kraven attempt failed due to bad reviews, audiences had other choices, budget problems, Kraven isn’t well known, and Sony’s failing track record of spin-off character movies.
This could be the final nail in this subpar movie. Kraven the Hunter is playing in theaters, and if you wish, you may judge for yourself and give it a chance. Should they stop making them? I say learn from these mistakes and move on. It’s one thing to make a bad movie, but it’s worse to never change and keep making them.
