Madame Web Finally Breaks a Good Record For Dakota Johnson

Madame Web was always going to have a fight on its hands to drag itself out of the shadow of previous entries in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe such as Morbius. However, despite a solid brick wall of criticism, the worst Rotten Tomatoes score of Sony’s franchise, and the worst opening of almost every superhero movie in recent memory, Madame Web has surprisingly managed to break a good record for star Dakota Johnson.

Although its opening weekend box office was nothing to write home about when stacked up against other superhero movies, Madame Web’s domestic $26.2 million was more than enough to give Johnson her own personal best opening weekend for a PG-13 movie, surpassing her previous record holder Need for Speed in 2014. Of course, the film couldn’t match her breakout role in the R-rated Fifty Shades of Grey, which opened to a record-breaking $85 million almost 9-years to the day of Madame Web’s arrival.

Right now, Madame Web is probably happy to find a positive spin following the trashing the film has taken both before and after its release last weekend. The movie’s 13% Rotten Tomatoes approval rating, a couple of ticks lower than that of 2022’s Morbius, comes with a consensus that the appeal of the film’s central character is let down by some bad dialogue, uneven execution and a predictable plot. Even audience reviews have not helped boost the movie, and by the time its second week drop-off kicks in, the film looks certain to be another money-vacuum for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe endeavors.

Dakota Johnson Has Distanced Herself From Madame Web

Madame Web seemed like it could have been a route into the world of superhero movies for Johnson, with the Marvel character having a lot of crossover potential based on her comic book roots. However, the likelihood of the film getting any kind of direct sequel seems to be diminishing very quickly, even though Sony are still apparently invested in their little Marvel Universe side-line to have two more titles releasing this year.

For Johnson, the press tour for Madame Web was a very muted affair, with the actress admitting that she has not watched the movie, citing “self-care” as one of the reasons, and also revealing that the movie she originally signed on for underwent some “drastic changes” from the concept to the final cut. Many studios have been known to tinker with movies prior to their completion, and it rarely seems to produce anything other than a disjointed final product, as is the case with Madame Web.

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While Madame Web attempts to rake back as much of its $80 million budget – which it reportedly overshot during its production – Sony Pictures will be now looking warily at the upcoming release of Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3. While the latter of these will no doubt sail well on the back of Tom Hardy’s previous outings as Eddie Brock/Venom, Kraven the Hunter is another movie that could be a surprise hit or spectacular miss.