20 Feb – It looks like the Dakota Johnson-starrer "Madame Web" has broken Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) box office record.
But not in a good way. The movie, which was released on 14 February, has broken a 22-year-old SSU record for having the lowest three-day opening number in the history of the universe, with only USD 17.6 million in the US box office.
After six days of opening, the movie only managed to make USD 25.8 million domestically. It is noted that "Spider-Man: No Way Home", which is also a collaboration with Marvel Studios, made USD 260.1 million when it opened in 2022, while "Spider-Man: 3", which has Tobey Maguire playing the titular role in 2007 made USD 151.1 million. And while the animated feature "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" made only USD 35.3 million in its three-day opening, it quickly gained success of USD 360 million by the end of its run, and its popularity was proven by the success of its sequel, "Across the Spider-Verse", which made USD 120.6 million in its three-day opening number.
It is noted that "Morbius", which starred Jared Leto, made only USD 39 million when it opened, with accumulated box office of USD 176.5 million from an over USD 83 million budget. "Madame Web" also hasn't done well with the critics and audiences alike, with many blasting it for its bad script and misleading marketing, while its own lead actress Dakota Johnson hasn't been showing interest in promoting the film seriously during her press tour.