Kraven The Hunter Is Off To An Even Worse Start Than Madame Web At The Box Office
Long-delayed Sony/Marvel movie "Kraven the Hunter" hit theaters this week and is on track to gross just $10-12 million in its opening weekend. That's a poorer result than "Madame Web" ($15.3 million domestic debut), made even worse by the fact that "Kraven" had a slightly bigger production budget of around $110 million. Directed by J.C Chandor and starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the titular role as Sergei Kravinoff, a vigilante with animal-like strength and reflexes, "Kraven the Hunter" was part of Sony's efforts to capitalize on its stable of Marvel Comics characters.
The studio has previously had success with "Venom," which improbably overcame the absence of Spider-Man and found commercial success, while also finding its way into the hearts of many fans. "Venom: The Last Dance" was the only Sony/Marvel movie to turn a profit at the box office this year, though it still had the lowest total ticket sales of the trilogy. "Madame Web" wrapped up its theatrical run with a little over $100 million globally.
Word of mouth is unlikely to save "Kraven the Hunter" in the coming weeks. The movie now has a dismal C grade from CinemaScore, based on audience exit polling, to go with its similarly disastrous Rotten Tomatoes score. Between the lingering success of "Moana 2" (still No. 1) and "Wicked," plus incoming competition from "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and "Mufasa: The Lion King" next week, it wouldn't be surprising to see "Kraven" crushed out of the box office top 5 in its second weekend.
Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim also had a quiet opening weekend
"The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" was made with one goal: to get a "Lord of the Rings" movie into theaters, thereby allowing Warner Bros. to renew the big screen rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy epic. In that respect, at least, it has succeeded; "War of the Rohirrim" slid quietly into 2,602 theaters with an estimated opening weekend of $6-7 million, against a production budget of $30 million.
Critics and audiences are equally lukewarm on the movie, which received a B CinemaScore and has a score of 55% on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing. There was minimal effort from Warner Bros. on the marketing front, with only one trailer for "War of the Rohirrim" released all the way back in August. But the studio is investing a lot more in upcoming live-action movie "The Hunt for Gollum," which has Andy Serkis returning to play the title character, as well as directing.
The movies aren't connected to Prime Video's ongoing series "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," which is produced by Amazon Studios under a separate rights agreement. "The Rings of Power" season 3 is currently being written, though it has yet to be given the official green light from Amazon.