There’s good news for the sadomasochists out there. Now, you can punish yourself on repeat with the news that Kraven the Hunter is now available on digital platforms. The film, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular anti-hero, may not have swung to great heights at the box office, but it’s making an early jump to home viewing for fans curious enough to see what went wrong.
Despite being directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker J.C. Chandor (Margin Call, All Is Lost), Kraven the Hunter turned out to be a catastrophic miss for Sony. The movie earned just $345,000 domestically this past weekend, bringing its global total to a dismal $59 million. That number is a far cry from its reported $120 million budget, but then, these Sony Spider-Man movies that, eh, don’t have Spider-Man in them, do tend to flop pretty hard if they’re not featuring Tom Hardy‘s Venom.
The movie also now holds the unenviable title of the franchise’s biggest flop. While Morbius became an internet meme sensation after its release and eventually grossed $160 million globally, and the secret genius that was Madame Web closed its run with $100 million, Kraven failed to generate any meaningful buzz or fanfare. With only $24 million domestically and $35 million internationally, it’s clear that the movie didn’t connect with audiences on any level. Imagine failing as a meme?
How Bad is ‘Kraven the Hunter’?
In his 3 out of 10 review, Collider’s Aidan Kelley did to the movie what Kraven’s prey tends to do to theirs — savaged it. Pointing out that Sony had served up stinker after stinker, and hailing the decision to finally wrap up the disastrous experiment that has been the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, or whatever it is they called it.
With a whopping five poorly critically received movies in a row, Kraven the Hunterreally should have been the last attempt to right the ship. Instead, the film repeats the exact same mistakes that have been pointed out over and over again since the first Venom film. It’s almost like a worst-hits compilation of all those movies’ mistakes, with the poorly conceived idea of Venom, the barely coherent story of Morbius, and the baffling technical problems of Madame Web.
Only time will tell, but Sony and the creative team behind these films seem to be taking the feedback in stride to make something constructive, and that’s what the primary goal of criticism should be — constructive change. Do I wish Kraven the Hunter was a much better superhero movie? Of course, but the seeming evidence that the film’s flaws are so apparent that it will lead to better films in the future is worth noting.
Kraven the Hunter is now available to watch on demand, if you wish to put yourself through it. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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.
- Director
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J.C. Chandor
- Cast
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Aaron Taylor-Johnson
, Russell Crowe
, Fred Hechinger
, Ariana DeBose
, Christopher Abbott
, Alessandro Nivola
, Levi Miller
, Chi Lewis-Parry
, Billy Barratt
, Jessica Zhou
, Michael Shaeffer
, Dritan Kastrati
, Greg Kolpakchi
, Elander Moore
, Filiz Fairweather
, Duran Fulton Brown
, Alex Skarbek
, Rachel Handshaw
, Preslav Shipkaliev
, Murat Seven
, Robert Ryan - Writers
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Art Marcum
, Richard Wenk
, Matt Holloway
