Kraven the Hunter is turning out to be one of the biggest box office disasters of the year, with its opening weekend projections falling drastically short of expectations. Released on December 13, this latest entry from Sony's Spider-Man Universe is struggling to draw audiences, with early estimates showing it might earn between $10 and $13 million during its debut weekend.
The film, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, has received scathing reviews from critics and disappointing reactions from moviegoers. According to CinemaScore, those who attended the premiere awarded it a poor grade of C, which is even lower than the C+ scores of two other low-performing Spider-Man spin-offs, Morbius and Madame Web. This recent performance reveals just how dismal the reception has been. The film on opening day grossed only $4.7 million, which is particularly alarming when compared to Madame Web, which managed $6 million during its Valentine’s Day release.
Adding to the concerns, Kraven the Hunter is being touted as the final installment of Sony's attempts to create its Spider-Man spin-off universe. Variety reports on the industry-wide buzz, indicating Sony has decided to wrap up its half-hearted efforts to create films centered around Spider-Man villains like Kraven and Morbius.
The film's lack of success follows the pattern set by previous entries, with critics lambasting Kraven for its “rote story and shoddy special effects.” Critics noted, "Claiming no trophies with its rote story and shoddy special effects, Kraven the Hunter turns out to be a paper tiger," as stated by movie critic Luiz Fernando.
Despite the star power of Taylor-Johnson and the Oscar-nominated director J.C. Chandor, who is best known for more serious films like Margin Call, the project seems to have floundered under the weight of poor creative decisions. Reviews indicate heavy post-production changes, resulting from early screenings fail to deliver coherent storytelling—something the production team appears to have struggled with from the project's inception.
Historically, Sony's Spider-Man Universe has been marked by failures, particularly with Morbius and Madame Web—both of which garnered significant ridicule online and poor box office outcomes. Kraven the Hunter is on track to outperform neither of those films, indicating it is the worst performing herald of the franchise's end.
Fans of Marvel were quick to fear Krevan would follow the same route as earlier projects, with early reaction and box office returns eliciting comments from critics and audiences alike. According to reports, predictions for Kraven's budget were approximately $110 million—certainly not cheap for what looks like yet another flop for the studio. While Venom has managed to strike up success with accumulated gross earnings exceeding $1.8 billion across its three films, its companions of the Spider-Man Universe have not fared so well. Collectively, Morbius and Madame Web have barely grossed around $270 million combined on the global stage.
With female-led films like Wicked and Moana 2 dominating the box office this weekend, the release of Kraven the Hunter seems to have arrived at the wrong time. Rival studios would likely see audience interest swayed away from the struggling superhero flick to more engaging content. The disparity has sparked substantial disappointment for Sony, as moviegoing audiences seem no longer interested, especially when the studio continues its trend of producing mediocre films.
Insiders within the industry speculate if the studio will finally step back and address its struggling creative strategy before proceeding with another superhero film. The continuing saga of disastrous releases and low ratings highlights the necessity for the studio to rethink its approach to the Spider-Man Universe. Critics are already buzzing over this eventuality, hinting at uncertainty moving forward.
While Kraven the Hunter will likely find some degree of success once it transitions to streaming platforms—similar to the eventual audience acceptance of Morbius and Madame Web—it’s troubling for fans of the superhero genre and for Sony itself. The franchise set out with the ambition of bringing to life more characters from Spider-Man’s world only to see it all crash down.
With poor box office performance and alarming ratings, Kraven the Hunter serves as both the culmination of failures and, ironically, the closure of what could have been one of Sony’s most ambitious projects. Fans and critics alike are left wondering what went wrong and if the studio will even attempt to salvage the reputation of its Spider-Man universe down the line.
