It hasn’t been the best month forKraven the Hunter. The movie starringAaron Taylor-Johnsonas the powerful Marvel villain was met with poor box office results and a negative critical reception. And now, one of the executives behind the movie doesn’t understand why the spinoff didn’t become a major hit with audiences. Duringa recent interview with Los Angeles Times,Tony Vinciquerra, the CEO of Sony Pictures, talked about how the reception forKraven the Huntersurprised him. Vinciquerra openly mentioned how he believes the spin-off produced by his studio to be a good film, while also openly calling it “probably the worst launch we had".
The sharedSpider-Manspin-off universe that began withVenomhas always existed without the need for a Spider-Man. Earlier this year,Madame Webalso received poor reviews when it was released in theaters. Vinciquerra went on to blame the press for the conversation around the story featuringDakota Johnsonin the titular role.Madame Webwent on to earn $100 million at the global box office, instantly becoming another financial failure for the franchise that would eventually launchKraven the Huntera few months later. Here’s what Tony Vinciquerra had to say regarding the release and reception ofMadame Web:
Let’s just touch on ‘Madame Web’ for a moment. ‘Madame Web’ underperformed in the theaters because the press just crucified it. It was not a bad film, and it did great on Netflix. 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. These are not terrible films. They were just destroyed by the critics in the press, for some reason.
Kraven the Hunterfeatures the titular character as he grows from a young man into the feicre hunter viewers know and love from the comic books published by Marvel. Sergei Kravinoff quickly becomes a vigilante while attempting to keep a healthy relationship with his brother, Dmitri (Fred Hechinger).Kraven the Hunteralso featuresAriana DeBoseas Calypso andAlessandro Nivolaas the Rhino. The spin-off was originally scheduled to be released almost two years ago, but multiple changes in Sony Pictures' schedule forced it to debut during this holiday season.
Who Directed ‘Kraven the Hunter’?
J.C. Chandorwas the filmmaker tasked with bringing Kraven from the pages of the Marvel comic books to the big screen. Before working on the latest installment of the franchise that began withVenom, Chandor was involved with the development ofA Most Violent YearandTriple Frontier. The screenplay forKraven the Hunterwas written byRichard Wenk,Art MarcumandMatt Holloway. Even if this spin-off failed to become a hit at the global box office, Sony Pictures can still look forward to the release ofthe nextSpider-Manmovie starringTom Hollandand the upcomingSpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Kraven the Hunteris now playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Kraven the Hunter
Kraven the Hunter explores the origin story of Sergei Kravinoff, known as Kraven, as he navigates his tumultuous relationship with his father, Nikolai. This path of vengeance sets Kraven on a journey to become a formidable hunter with a reputation for fearsome brutality.
