Is Sony's first R-rated superhero flick on track to break records? Yes, but...not in a good way. Here's why we think "Kraven the Hunter" is destined for a lackluster box office performance.
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00:00Is Sony's first R-rated superhero flick on track to break records?
00:04Yes, but not in a good way.
00:07Here's why we think Kraven the Hunter is destined for a lackluster box office performance.
00:12Tell me about this hunter.
00:15At this point, Sony's Marvel's Spider-Man universe hasn't proven to be a worthy challenger
00:20of the official MCU.
00:21The first few Venom films were okay, but only generated moderate profits and so-so reviews.
00:27Have a nice life.
00:30Morbius didn't totally bomb in theaters, but essentially became the easiest way to make
00:35fun of Jared Leto, even after his disastrous portrayal of the Joker.
00:39Not sure how that even happened.
00:41What did you do to yourself, Doctor?
00:45Make us understand.
00:46I wish I knew.
00:48And Madame Web was so baffling that you really just had to see it to believe it.
00:52Okay, let's not mention that to anybody.
00:56Now, as the release of Kraven the Hunter draws near, box office projections are spelling
01:00disaster for its opening weekend — and we're not exaggerating.
01:04According to Box Office Pro, it's predicted that the film will only make somewhere between
01:08$20 to $25 million throughout its first few days on the big screen.
01:13Keep in mind that this would be significantly less than Morbius, which peaked at $39 million
01:18during its opening weekend in the U.S.
01:20It would even be less than Madame Web, which earned just a little less than $26 million.
01:25This means that Kraven could be on track to end up as one of the lowest-earning Marvel
01:29movies in history.
01:30Why is the outlook so abysmal?
01:31Well, as we just mentioned, there's a precedent that's already been set by the previous films
01:36in Sony's Marvel's Spider-Man universe.
01:38Audiences have yet to be truly wowed by anything that Sony has put forth so far.
01:43So why should they expect a sudden change now?
01:45It certainly looks like Kraven is following the same template used in previous Sony installments.
01:50The villain is more or less the hero of the story.
01:53Certain aspects of Kraven's backstory and overall character have been altered, and Spider-Man
01:57isn't set to make an appearance.
01:59None of this worked particularly well in the previous films, and yet, it's what we're going
02:03to get anyway.
02:04Not only are people over this sort of letdown, but they're over how easy it is to tell that
02:08something is going to be a letdown before they even see it.
02:11All of that being said, it's definitely possible that Kraven the Hunter subverts our expectations
02:16and starts to steer Sony in the right direction.
02:18It does have a few things going for it, after all.
02:20For one, Aaron Taylor-Johnson looks to be a solid choice for Kraven.
02:24Just like Tom Hardy was the saving grace for the Venom movies, Johnson could be the glue
02:27that holds everything together this time around.
02:30There's also the fact it's R-rated.
02:32As we all know, R-rated superhero movies have a pretty good track record when it comes to
02:36both box office numbers and critical reviews, with Deadpool and Wolverine being the most
02:41recent example.
02:42Let's f-----g go.
02:44Yes, Jokerfolia 2 was an abomination, but come on, it's a musical.
02:48A jukebox musical, at that.
02:50It was essentially destined to fail.
02:52Another saving grace for Kraven, at least for its performance at the box office, is
02:55the competition it will have in theaters, which isn't much.
02:58The only other major movie that drops at the same time is The Lord of the Rings The War
03:02of Rohirrim, an animated feature that hasn't been hyped up much whatsoever.
03:07With no other more appealing live-action juggernaut to challenge its supremacy, it's very possible
03:11that Kraven will perform better than expected, even if for no other reason than audiences
03:16had nothing better to do at the time.
03:18In the end, though, these are just predictions.
03:20We'll just have to wait for its December 13th release date to see how Kraven stacks
03:24up in comparison to its less-than-marvelous predecessors.
03:27As always here at Looper, we're hoping for an upset that blows our minds and reinvigorates
03:32our undying love for superhero flicks.