The outgoing Sony boss has blamed critics and the media for “crucifying” big budget projects and ultimately causing them to flop at the box office.
CEO Tony Vinciquerra, who will end his seven-year tenure at Sony Pictures in January, lamented the failure of Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter this year.
Kraven the Hunter took in just $11 million in its opening weekend in December, behind Moana 2 and Wicked: The Musical.
Vinciquerra told the Los Angeles Times it was “probably the worst launch we’ve had in 7 1/2 years.”
He said he still struggles to understand how the Spider-Man spinoff, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, performed so poorly “because the movie isn’t a bad movie.”
Similarly, he said that Madame Web’s disappointing debut was not the fault of the network, cast or crew, but placed the blame squarely on the media.
“Let’s talk about Madame Web for a moment,” he said.
“Madame Web underperformed in the theaters because the press just crucified it. It wasn’t a bad movie and it did great on Netflix.
He said that Madame Web’s disappointing debut was not the fault of the network or its cast and crew, and instead placed the blame squarely on the media.
CEO Tony Vinciquerra, who will end his seven-year tenure at Sony Pictures in January, lamented the failure of Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter this year
“For some reason the press decided they didn’t want us to make these Kraven and Madame Web films, and the critics just destroyed them.”
Vinciquerra accused the media of similar tactics with Venom, but said audiences resisted the criticism and made it a “big hit” because they thought the film was “great.”
‘These aren’t terrible movies. They were just destroyed for some reason by the critics in the press,” he said.
‘Madame Web’ has a score of 11 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, while ‘Kraven’ scores slightly higher with a score of 15 percent.
Venom, meanwhile, has a score of 41 percent.
Kraven the Hunter took in just $11 million in its opening weekend in December, behind Moana 2 and Wicked: The Musical
He said he still struggles to understand how the Spider-Man spinoff starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson performed so terribly ‘because the movie isn’t a bad movie’
The disappointing results have caused Sony to rethink its strategy, especially regarding the Spiderman universe.
“I think we need to rethink it,” Vinciquerra said.
‘It was bitten by a snake. If we release another one, it will be destroyed, no matter how good or bad it is.”