After several delays down the Sony release calendar, the studio’s Marvel spinoff “Kraven the Hunter” is being met by indifference in its arrival to theaters. The antihero actioner earned a feeble $4.7 million across Friday and preview screenings from 3,211 locations.
That’s behind the $6 million opening day gross of the studio’s “Madame Web,” which opened on Valentine’s Day Wednesday back at the start of 2024 and finished with a paltry $43 million in North America. It seems Sony is bookending the calendar with another comic book dud, as the R-rated “Kraven the Hunter” will have to muscle up if it’s going to make its already low projections for an opening north of $13 million. Even if it meets those expectations, it’s a wretched start for the $110 million production.
“Kraven the Hunter,” which is directed by J.C. Chandor and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the killer villain of Spider-Man lore, has been battling skepticism for some time now. The film shot nearly three years ago and has faced several pounces around the release calendar since staking out an original January 2023 date. And though Sony has found strong commercial success with its “Venom” trilogy, the studio’s other pair of live-action “Spider-Man” spinoffs, “Madame Web” and the living vampire thriller “Morbius,” both proved to be franchise non-starters, not to mention superlative turkeys among critics.
“Kraven” isn’t breaking the pattern, with terrible reviews and rough audience sentiment. Moviegoer pollster Cinema Score turned in a C grade, which is even lower than the C+ earned by “Madame Web” and “Morbius.” Even poorly regarded movies can put up above-average multipliers over the holiday season, but bad buzz and a terrible kick-off are going to be a grind to overcome. Quoth the “Kraven,” nevermore.
This weekend is also seeing another IP whirligig unable to break through with audiences, as Warner Bros.’ “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” is opening in fifth place. The Tolkien prequel, helmed by anime veteran Kenji Kamiyama, took in an estimated $2 million across Friday and preview screenings from 2,602 locations. Reviews have been so-so, while the film landed a B grade on Cinema Score.
Compared to “Kraven,” expectations are far more modest for “Rohirrim,” which was produced at a fairly slim $30 million budget. In some ways, the film is already a success, as it was greenlit and fast-tracked as a means to ensure that New Line Cinema didn’t lose rights for Tolkien’s novels. The banner is currently developing “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” which will be directed by and star Andy Serkis.
Even so, recent years have demonstrated that anime can draw a crowd in North America. Titles like “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” and “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train” opened at the top of domestic charts, with debuts north of $20 million. While those represent the cream of the crop for dedicated anime fanbases, “Lord of the Rings” should carry its own built-in appeal too, especially considering how coveted the Tolkien rights remain. “Rohirrim” is out, the IP is still on the books: mission accomplished. But the franchise should likely be above such a soft opening.
“Moana 2” looks to easily top charts once again, cinching No. 1 for a third weekend in a row. The Disney release added roughly $6 million on Friday, down 48% from its $11 million daily haul a week prior. It’s been smooth sailing for the musical sequel since setting Thanksgiving holiday box office records in its opening. In just 15 days of release, domestic grosses now surpass $320 million, making it one of the top five North American releases of the year.
Still ahead of its total is “Wicked,” which is repeating in second after adding $5.8 million on Friday. Universal’s bifurcated adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical will cross $350 million domestically this weekend. It should soon pass up “Despicable Me 4,” which currently ranks as the third-biggest North American release of the year at $361 million.
Rounding out the top five is “Gladiator II,” which chopped off another $2.1 million on Friday. The film is looking at a modest 40% drop in its fourth weekend, even faced with a new R-rated actioner on the block in “Kraven.” Paramount’s swords-and-sandals sequel looks to pass $145 million domestically through Sunday, which would rank it above “The Wild Robot” ($142 million), “Venom: The Last Dance” ($139 million) and “A Quiet Place: Day One” ($138 million) among this year’s crop of releases.
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