Sony’s biggest Spider-Verse flop triumphs on Netflix and will change the streaming game
Sony will reconsider the terms under which it negotiates how its films are offloaded to major streaming platforms.
After a string of box office flops, Sony Pictures appears to have quietly pulled the plug on its Spider-Verse — with one notable exception: the Venom trilogy. While Morbius and Kraven the Hunter stumbled hard in theaters, nothing crashed quite like Madame Web.
Released with just $15.3 million in its opening weekend and wrapping up with a global box office of $100.3 million, Madame Web was panned by critics, earning a dismal 10% on Rotten Tomatoes. But here’s the twist: despite its theatrical failure, the film became a massive hit on Netflix last year, outperforming Venom: The Last Dance and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire to become Sony’s most-watched movie on the platform.
Why Did ‘Madame Web’ Succeed on Streaming?
Experts point to two obvious reasons — though you don’t need to be an expert to see them:
- Low theater turnout: Most people skipped it in theaters, waiting for it to hit streaming.
- Curiosity factor: Viewers were drawn in by the buzz around how “bad” it was — a kind of cinematic rubbernecking.
And with Netflix being the world’s most-subscribed streaming service, Madame Web had the perfect stage for a second life.
A wake-up call for Sony’s streaming strategy
Sony doesn’t have its own streaming platform, so it licenses its films based on box office performance. That meant Netflix got Madame Web for a bargain.
Now, according to Bloomberg, Sony is rethinking its deals — asking future partners to share detailed viewer data, including how many people start and finish watching their movies.
What Went Wrong with ‘Madame Web’?
Like many entries in Sony’s Spider-Verse, Madame Web suffered from a fundamental flaw: it’s set in Spider-Man’s world… without Spider-Man. Aside from Venom, most of these characters are obscure outside comic book circles, making it tough to draw mainstream audiences.
And that’s despite some serious star power. Madame Web featured Dakota Johnson (Materialists), Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria), Isabela Merced (Superman), Adam Scott (Severance), and Emma Roberts (American Horror Story), among others.
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