Hollywood must reconsider superheroes

“Venom 3” joins the growing list of superhero films that bomb at the box office.

‘Venom 3: The Last Dance’ hasn’t been a disaster, but it hasn’t been a huge success for Sony either, behind the previous two installments and raising the question: is superhero cinema’s golden age over? Marvel and DC are at a turning point for their production of the genre, so it’s worth asking if they killed it all and it died alone or if it can be revived.

Poor number 1. ‘Venom 3’ was the weekend’s highest-grossing film, but it barely made $51 million in the US, compared to $65 million expected. An amount below the first (80 million) and second (90 million, a pandemic record) installments. Internationally, 124 million was raised, improving things.

Sony, precarious. Although not disastrous, this collection puts Sony in a difficult position, as their plans to develop a spider-verse were largely based on the success of ‘Venom’ and a possible continuation of the saga without Tom Hardy. Since ‘Madame Web’ and ‘Morbius’ failed, and ‘Kraven the Hunter’ is expected to debut on December 13, expectations are low. Sony’s only successes with the franchise are the animated Spider-Man films of the Spider-Man multiverse, but by not using the arachnid hero in live-action films, it is in a dead end: it makes Marvel films, but it doesn’t use what makes them popular.

Others in trouble. Sony is not the only superhero production company in trouble: DC and Warner are about to change their superhero production after a series of lackluster films (‘The Flash’, ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’) that failed to meet Zack Snyder’s expectations. Marvel, however, is in a hiatus with hits like ‘Deadpool and Wolverine’. The bitter memory of failures like ‘The Marvels’ or ‘Quantumania‘ precedes new films like ‘Fantastic Four’.

Far from billion. The days of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and billion-dollar superhero films are over. In contrast to ‘The Marvels’, ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ will be remembered as one of 2024’s biggest disasters, grossing less than its predecessor in its first weekend.

Numbers speak for themselves. Variety data shows that superhero films are also declining at the box office. 25 of 30 superhero films (83%), many of them much more, grossed over $500 million worldwide between 2015 and 2019. Since 2022, 10 of 17 superhero films (note the drop in releases) have grossed less than $500 million worldwide. Again, some much less.

Sony’s plans. Sony’s plans are unknown, unlike Marvel and DC’s. ‘Morbius’, ‘Madame Web’, and ‘Venom 3’ may have tempered them, but they have ambitious projects ahead. This week, they announced a tentative release date for ‘Spider-Man 4’ and the latest animated film of the character’s multiverse. The first images of Amazon’s ‘Spider-Man Noir’ with Nicolas Cage have leaked.

If successful, this latest series could be an interesting U-turn for Sony, finding a place for its Spider-Verse beyond the Wall-Crawler’s villains, which aren’t working well (there are no films announced beyond ‘Kraven’), and giving a taste of the juicy multiverse, full of possibilities that don’t mix with the MCU. It is unclear if a third superhero production company is being formed, but more is better to revive the genre.

Hollywood must reconsider superheroes

“Venom 3” joins the growing list of superhero films that bomb at the box office.

By knl9j

Related Post

Microsoft’s ‘Call of Duty

Max’s new DAZN rate suggests that streaming

Weekly gossip magazines:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You Missed

Hollywood must reconsider superheroes

Microsoft’s ‘Call of Duty

Max’s new DAZN rate suggests that streaming

Weekly gossip magazines: