'Kraven The Hunter' Soft Box Office Opening Could Signal Third Major Marvel Flop For Sony After Report Studio Shelving Sonyverse

‘Kraven The Hunter’ Soft Box Office Opening Could Signal Third Major Marvel Flop For Sony After Report Studio Shelving Sonyverse

While Marvel Studios saw the film rights to “Fantastic Four” and “X-Men” returned to them after Disney acquired 21st Century, Sony Pictures moved forward with a string of their own Marvel movies featuring villain characters introduced in “Spider-Man” comic books starting with “Venom” back in 2018. However, seven years into the Sonyverse it hasn’t been terribly successful for them and a new report suggests it could be over after some major stumbles.

Forbes is presenting an early sign that their latest effort “Kraven The Hunter” could end up becoming the studio’s third major Marvel flop within a short amount of time with an estimated domestic opening weekend of $13-15 million, which is sort of on par with what “Madame Web” made opening weekend earlier in the year, and earned a poultry $100.4 million. The Jared Leto-led flick “Morbius” was the first of the Sonyverse films to have trouble making a profit after it took in $167.4 million.

The R-rated film (not originally meant as an R-rated film) reportedly has a budget of $110 million after multiple rounds of reshoots. Making a similar amount of money to either “Madame Web,” and “Morbius” would be another major loss for them in 2024. While the three “Venom” movies have made Sony a decent amount of money the two sequels have had diminishing returns compared to the first installment’s impressive haul of $856 million, and “Venom: The Last Dance” ($473 million globally) hasn’t made enough money to cover the losses on the other two films they’ve released.

Sony Pictures is a business and isn’t looking to break even or lose heaps of money on these films, so, when it was reported this week by The Wrap that the studio was pumping the breaks on future Sonyverse films, it is understandable and makes sense from a business perspective. It should be also pointed out that while there had been a bunch of other Sonyverse film development plans reported on in the past, we’re still waiting on any of them being greenlit including projects like “Jackpot,” “Nightwatch,” and others such as a “Spider-Woman” film that once had Olivia Wilde attached to direct. None of those films have had any concrete updates from Sony.

Spending those seven years trying to convince audiences that their Sonyverse films would have substantial connectivity to Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man” films (set in the mainline Marvel Cinematic Universe and made by Marvel Studios) without much or any real follow-through has felt like false advertising on the studio’s part to get asses in seats. Ultimately, their bizarre marketing gimmick to call the films “Spider-Man spinoffs” without any real involvement of the Web Head in them felt like Sony cashing in on the Marvel/Spider-Man branding by talking up a connection without really showing that on the big screen.

As it stands, “Spider-Man 4” from Marvel Studios and director Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings”) is the only major live-action feature film project on deck with “Spider-Man Noir” starring Nicolas Cage being made for Amazon bringing the “Spider-Verse” characters to the small screen.

SOURCE: THE WRAP & FORBES

‘Madame Web’: Dakota Johnson To Star In Sony’s Upcoming ‘Spider-Man’ Spinoff Film

Sony Pictures is behind a multitude of spinoff feature films set within their own Marvel Comics cinematic universe with Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, Kraven The Hunter, and a Spider-Woman project from director Olivia Wilde (Booksmart). Another spinoff has landed a star to lead it.

Deadline reports that actress Dakota Johnson has been selected to play the mysterious Madame Web in a solo spinoff that is directed by S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, The Defenders) from a script penned by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.

Plot details are being kept under lock and key for the moment.

Madame Web was a supernatural character, not unlike Doctor Strange, from the pages of the Spider-Man comics and had abilities to show Peter Parker different realities, she was also connected to a version of the Multiverse in the 1990s animated series. There is a good shot since she doesn’t have any standout villains that she could be navigating the Spider-Verse/Multiverse.

Johnson joins Tom Hardy (Venom), Jared Leto (Morbius), and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven) in Sony’s splinter universe that may or may not crossover directly with the main Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to the box office success of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

There is still an expectation that Wilde’s Spider-Woman is moving forward, but it’s been a while since there has been a concrete update on that one. Kraven The Hunter is expected to be the next big Sony/Marvel project to go in front of cameras with J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier) set to direct.

The superhero project has yet to get an official release date from the studio.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Kraven The Hunter’ Adds Longtime MCU Cinematographer Ben Davis

The Ronin has confirmed that British cinematographer Ben Davis (The King’s Man) has joined the production team for Sony’s Kraven The Hunter, directed by J.C. Chandor (Triple Frontier) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Tenet, Bullet Train, Avengers: Age of Ultron) playing the titular Marvel Comics character.

It’s certainly an interesting crew addition given that Ben Davis is mostly known for working on Marvel Studios films such as Avengers: Age of Ultron (also starred Taylor-Johnson), Guardians of The Galaxy, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, and Eternals.

The project will focus on Sergei Kravinoff aka Kraven, a Russian aristocrat turned big-game hunter that becomes a major antagonist of Marvel superhero Spider-Man as a member of The Sinister Six and half-brother of fellow villain The Chameleon.

Kraven The Hunter has a script penned by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, The Expendables 2) with Art Marcum and Matt Holloway tackling rewrites. The duo of screenwriters aren’t strangers to studio genre projects working on Iron Man, Punisher: War Zone, Transformers: The Last Knight, Men In Black: International, and the upcoming Tom Holland video game movie Uncharted.

Could we see Kraven join the MCU like other Spidey villains?

Well, Davis’ addition isn’t the first time MCU department heads have worked on Spider-Man spinoffs. Matthew Libatique (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) did the cinematography on the first Venom and production designer Stefania Cella (Morbius) recently worked on the Disney+ series Moon Knight.

Deadline reporter Justin Kroll tweeted a list of names that Sony had considered to play Kraven (before Aaron Taylor-Johnson was hired) but they had passed. Those high-profile names were Keanu Reeves (John Wick, The Matrix), Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Fight Club, Inglorious Basterds), John David Washington (Tenet), and Adam Driver (House of Gucci, Logan Lucky, Star Wars: The Force Awakens).

Sony Pictures has already given the Spider-Man spinoff a release date of January 13, 2023.

Tom Holland Teases ‘Spider-Man’ Retirement Before His 30s & Franchise Pivoting To Miles Morales

A new interview with Spider-Man: No Way Home actor Tom Holland sees the young actor tell GQ he isn’t terribly interested in playing Peter Parker into his 30s and teasing that the franchise should eventually pivot to Miles Morales, the black/Latino incarnation of the character that picks up the mantle in the comic books.

“Maybe it is time for me to move on. Maybe what’s best for Spider-Man is that they do a Miles Morales film. I have to take Peter Parker into account as well, because he is an important part of my life. If I’m playing Spider-Man after I’m 30, I’ve done something wrong,” Holland tells GQ about his future in the role.

With Holland at age 25, it sounds like Sony/Marvel has five more years. That’s if he ultimately nabs a new contract.

Miles Morales is already part of the Marvel zeitgeist as he led his own popular video game and the Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, sequels to both are on the way.

Franchise producer Amy Pascal is more optimistic about Holland’s future, “I’ve talked to him about doing, like, 100 more. I’m never going to make Spider-Man movies without him. Are you kidding me?”

It remains to be seen if Holland will make another trilogy let alone 100 more as it hasn’t been announced if the actor has signed a new contract extending his original deal.

Marvel Studios will be expanding the Spider-Man mythology with a prequel cartoon series Spider-Man: Freshman Year for Disney+ and is expected to focus on his early crime-fighting, along with his possible origin that wasn’t explored in the live-action films.

Spider-Man: No Way Home will be released on December 17 and how that film wraps up might indicate how Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will move forward.

For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero’s identity is revealed, bringing his Super Hero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. When he enlists Doctor Strange’s help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who’ve ever fought a Spider-Man in any universe. Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse.

SOURCE: GQ

Apple Studios Lands Director Jon Watts’ Thriller Starring Brad Pitt & George Clooney

Director Jon Watts has been spending a good chunk of the last ten years working on a Spider-Man trilogy for Marvel Studios, after making waves with his thriller Cop Car. He’s currently putting the finishing touches on Spider-Man: No Way Home and during that post-production process has been shopping around a massive package deal that has almost every studio/streamer in the Hollywood drooling.

Watts will write and direct an untitled thriller starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney as two lone wolf fixers given the same assignment.

Deadline reports after a large bidding war, Apple Studios has surfaced as victorious, however, not mentioning how much the deal is worth. The film will get a theatrical release which is not as common when streamers get their mitts on original projects.

The group vying for the film include Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, Annapurna, MGM Studios, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Apple, Netflix, and Amazon.

It’ll be interesting to see when the thriller begins shooting as Watts has been attached to direct Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot since last December, but is one of the few MCU films still waiting on an official release date.

At this point, we shouldn’t expect Fantastic Four to begin shooting before 2023.

Watts’ film Cop Car is very much recommended if you’ve only seen his work at Marvel.

COP CAR – When two rebellious young boys stumble across an abandoned cop car hidden in a secluded glade they decide to take it for a joyride. When the small town sheriff (Kevin Bacon) goes looking for his missing car, the boys find themselves in the center of a deadly game of cat and mouse and the only way out is to go as fast as their cop car can take them.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

‘Ant-Man 3’ Adds ‘Shang-Chi’ & ‘The Matrix’ Cinematographer Bill Pope

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania has been shooting at Pinewood Studios UK with director Peyton Reed returning for the third installment. As cameras have already started rolling we now have a new tidbit of information that has seemingly revealed the MCU film’s director of photography, the person behind the camera.

A crew listing for Tommy Holman on Arri Crew (spotted by Will Mavity on Twitter) seemingly confirms the cinematographer on the Ant-Man sequel will be Bill Pope, a veteran of the industry. Some of Pope’s credits include movies such as Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy, Scott Pilgrim, Baby Driver, The Matrix Trilogy, and Alita: Battle Angel.

You can see a screenshot of the site’s crew listing below.

Filming is taking place under the working title Dust Bunny and will see Jonathan Majors playing the film’s big villain, Kang The Conqueror. The evil variant of Majors’ Loki character He That Remains and is expected to become the next Thanos, being an antagonist in multiple MCU movies.

It’s been confirmed that Pinewood has their own version of The Volume and the Ant-Man sequel will be using it.

We previously reported that production is again returning to San Francisco and that Will Htay (No Time To Die, Rogue One, Solo, Andor) would be the movie’s production designer.

Interestingly enough, both Scott Lang and Shang-Chi happen to have made the Bay Area their home.

The cast consists of Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Evangeline Lilly as Hope, Kathryn Newton as the newest incarnation of Cassie Lang, Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet. There is also a shot that Canadian actor Dan Levy might have a role too after being spotted out to dinner with Paul Rudd.

There have been signs the next installment will be much bigger in scope than the previous two movies and having Kang’s true introduction will be part of that.

If you’re curious, the other cinematographers working on upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Ben Davis (Eternals), Eric Steelberg (Hawkeye), Carmen Cabana (Ms. Marvel), Mauro Fiore (Spider-Man: No Way Home), John Mathieson (Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness), Baz Idoine (Thor: Love & Thunder), Florian Ballhaus (She-Hulk), Gregory Middleton (Moon Knight), Sean Bobbitt (The Marvels), Autumn Durald (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), and Sylvaine Dufaux (Secret Invasion).

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania will debut in theaters on February 17, 2023.

SOURCE: ARRI CREW

Tony Revolori Reunites With Director Wes Anderson For New Film Currently Shooting In Spain

Despite already being in production on his new film in Spain, director Wes Anderson has added another familiar face to the untitled project.

Deadline reports that actor Tony Revolori (Dope) has secured a role making this the third time he’s worked Anderson after previous projects such as The Grand Budapest Hotel and The French Dispatch.

Revolori is likely best known as Flash in the Jon Watts-directed Spider-Man films and recently nabbed a part in Lucasfilm’s Willow sequel series that will air on Disney+ sometime next year.

The new movie already has an impressive cast that consists of Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story, Jojo Rabbit, Isle of Dogs), Jason Schartzman (Fargo, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Rushmore), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Drive, Trumbo, Argylle, Isle of Dogs), Jeffrey Wright (The French Dispatch, Westworld, The Batman), Hope Davis (Your Honor, American Splender), Liev Schreiber (Spotlight, Isle of Dogs), Rupert Friend (Death of Stalin, Obi-Wan Kenobi), Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Bill Murray (Rushmore, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The French Dispatch, Isle of Dogs, The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom), Tilda Swinton (Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch), Adrien Brody (The Darjeeling Limited, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch) and Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan, Road To Perdition) in a cameo.

Plot details have been kept under wraps and might be a while before we know what it’s exactly about or who the cast will be playing. I’m sure fans will be interested to know if Wes is attempting something more in the way of genre filmmaking (western or sci-fi) or still continue in the realm of quirky character-driven comedy.

It’s assumed that Anderson will make a distribution deal with Searchlight Pictures.

The French Dispatch brings to life a collection of stories from the final issue of an American magazine published in a fictional 20th-century French city. It stars Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

TRAILER: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Footage Confirms Peter Parker Will Explore The Multiverse & Teases The Sinister Six

After what feels like an eternity of fan speculation of when the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer would drop it’s finally made it’s way online, thanks to Sony Pictures.

For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a Super Hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

The cast consists of Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus, Jon Favreau, Hannibal Buress, Jacob Batalon, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, Marisa Tomei, Angourie Rice, Martin Starr, Tony Revolori, Paula Newsome, and J.B Smoove.

We’ve now have concrete confirmations that Benedict Wong and possibly Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn/Green Goblin will appear as well. We see a pumpkin bomb show up, someone trying to attack Peter in the shadows, Electro using his powers, and Alfred Molina’s glorious Doctor Octopus.

The Ronin first reported that Paula Newsome would appear and she is seen in the trailer.

The Multiverse was first teased in WandaVision, but fully realized in the Loki series with the TVA and Kang’s variant. It’s currently being explored with the What If…? animated show, however, there is something tonally off with that project compared to previous live-action stuff on Disney+. Hopefully, things will get better as more episodes air.

It seems like there will be a slight break for director Jon Watts, as he’ll be focusing on Fantastic Four next, as Marvel Studios will reboot the superhero team for the MCU. However, since making the announcement in December, they haven’t given any indication when they’ll begin production on Fantastic Four.

This isn’t terribly surprising as we haven’t had an announcement concerning Spider-Man 4 and Holland has revealed he completed his contract with No Way Home (he’s indicated he wants to resign but likely re-negotiate more for money). A small hiatus might be just the break everyone involved in the trilogy of films needs at this point.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is expected to debut on December 17, barring any further release delays.

SOURCE: SONY PICTURES

Tom Hardy Planning ‘Venom 3’ & ‘Morbius’ Director Daniel Espinosa Spoils Eddie Brock Cameo

Tom Hardy is returning to the Eddie Brock role in Venom: Let There be Carnage, which he’ll earn a “story by” credit and is sounds like he’s already preparing for the potential of a third film. Hardy recently did a lengthy interview with Esquire and brought-up that he’s already in early planning stages for a Venom 3, but wasn’t ready to stay that it was sure bet as Sony Pictures still hasn’t greenlit it.

“I’m thinking about the third movie as well, because I think you need to write that at the same time. A third won’t be greenlit until the second is successful, but the studio were really, really pleased with number two.”

The British actor was also hopeful for crossovers and it looks like Morbius might be where that first happens.

Swedish outlet Movie Zine (via The Direct) recently spoke with Morbius director Daniel Espinosa (Snabba Cash, Safe House, Life) about the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff and seemingly spilled the beans about Tom Hardy’s cameo as Eddie Brock/Venom in the movie.

“It usually feels strange before the day begins, when you look at the schedule and stand on the set yourself. When you walk around there, the recording looks just like a Swedish production, but then when you look at the schedule and read names like Michael Keaton, Jared Leto, Tom Hardy, then it feels cool and very exciting.”

However, there have been statements from both Sony Pictures and Venom: Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis (See below) that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man won’t be involved in the Venom sequel, despite that Michael Keaton’s Vulture is expected to show up in Morbius (as seen in the trailer).

“Obviously, there are links between Venom and Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe and the Spider-Man story, but in this, we’re treating this very much as it’s his own world, the Venom story is his own world. There are nods and little moments just like this, the newspaper Daily Bugle, of course, but on the whole, he’s unaware, they’re unaware, at this point of other characters like Spider-Man. So that’s the way we’ve chosen to play this particular episode of the movie but well, we’ll wait and see, what little things you can pick out of it.”

Multiple projects are in the works at Sony Pictures with J.C. Chandor’s (Triple Frontier) Kraven The Hunter starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and director Olivia Wilde’s (Booksmart, Don’t Worry Darling) untitled film (expected to be Spider-Woman) to be the next projects to go into production.

MORBIUS – One of Marvel’s most compelling and conflicted characters comes to the big screen as Oscar-winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero, Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed and transforms this healer into a hunter.

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE – Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL’s greatest and most complex characters. Directed by Andy Serkis, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage.

SOURCE: ESQUIRE & MOVIE ZINE

Sony Pictures Says ‘Morbius’ Isn’t Part Of The MCU After Jared Leto’s Co-Star Tyrese Gibson Mistakenly Said It Was

Yesterday, Comic Book spoke with Fast & Furious franchise actor Tyrese Gibson, as he is on the promotional tour for Universal’s F9. The outlet is known for poking and prodding actors for any kind of tidbit about upcoming comic book films and television shows, along with the exhausting task of asking everyone they interview what superheroes they want to play if they’re not already doing so or grilling them about various internet rumors.

Gibson happens to be playing Simon Stroud in Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff, Morbius, and this led to a misleading comment from the actor declaring the upcoming Jared Leto film was indeed part of the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Something that sounded extremely perplexing because Marvel Studios, as far as we know, has zero involvement in projects like Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius, and Kraven The Hunter. Sony Pictures had previously made it publicly known that their Spider-Man spinoffs would be part of a cinematic universe adjacent to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Gibson’s statement was indeed incorrect, as GameSpot reached out to Sony Pictures and the studio confirmed Morbius is still in their own splinter cinematic universe and not part of the MCU.

GameSpot has confirmed that Morbius is still slated to come out on January 28, 2022. Additionally, the movie is not part of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is a part of Sony Pictures’ Universe of Marvel characters, contrary to what Tyrese Gibson said in the interview below.

We’ll have to chalk it up to Gibson being part of another franchise with spinoffs and just assuming everything Marvel is under the same umbrella. Fans seem to be just as confused as they tend to listen to online theories instead of the studios making the films in question, as mentioned above Sony clarified this months ago.

This comes after Venom: Let Them Be Carnage director Andy Serkis said their film is set in it’s own world and the characters aren’t even aware of Spider-Man. Seemingly confirming that the Venom sequel won’t be part of the MCU either.

The confusion likely stems from Michael Keaton’s Vulture showing up at the end of the film’s trailer, a character that appeared in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, but is ultimately owned by Sony Pictures to do with what they’d like.

MORBIUS – One of Marvel’s most compelling and conflicted characters comes to the big screen as Oscar-winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero, Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder, and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. What at first appears to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed and transforms this healer into a hunter.

SOURCE: GAME SPOT