Box office: huge flop for Kraven, worst start for a Marvel/Sony film
Kraven The Hunter is a new fiasco for Sony's Spider-Man Universe. © Sony Pictures
Sony's Spider-Man Universe is disappearing into general indifference. While sources indicate that the studio will end production on villains and focus on Spider-Man 4her Kraven The Hunter has just signed the last fiasco of the year, and the worst launch of a Marvel / Sony film. We take stock.
Worse than Morbius And Madame Web
With 11 million dollars collected during its first weekend of operation, Kraven The Hunter (Kraven the Hunter in VF) enters the pantheon of the great failures of 2024 and even of the industry. The feature film directed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train) thus achieves the worst start of Sony's Spider-Man Universe, worse than those of Madame Web (15.3 million), Venom: The Last Dance (51 million) and Morbius (39 million).
Aaron Taylor-Johnson is Kraven in Sony's Spider-Verse. © Sony Pictures
The disaster is even greater in the world, where the film only earned 15 million in 60 markets, particularly in China. Kraven the Hunter must still be released in France (December 18) and India (January 1, 2025), but it will not be enough to absorb the budget estimated at 120 million dollars, especially with negative spectator reviews. For comparison, Madame Web had ended his career with a small cumulative total of 100 million worldwide.
As a reminder, while the majority of Marvel characters belong to Marvel Studios and therefore Disney, Spider-Man has been the property of Sony since 1999. The studio collaborated with Disney to make Spider-Man appear in the MCU, but also wanted to create its own connected universe in 2018, centered on the superhero antagonists. Except for the popular trilogy Venom and the animated Spider-Verse films, this one proved to be an artistic and financial disaster, damaging intellectual property.
Vaiana 2 is heading towards the billion mark. © The Walt Disney Company
The rest of the American box office is a little happier, and Moana 2 continues its good run with an additional $26.6 million (-48%) in the third weekend. The Disney animated film reached 337 million on American soil and consolidated its position as the fifth biggest hit of the year in the United States. At this rate, Moana 2 is on its way to bringing its total worldwide beyond the billion mark at the end of its career.
In his wake, Wicked also confirms its good momentum with 22.5 million dollars (-38.3%) added to its total in the third week. If the adaptation of the Broadway musical is one of the hits of 2024 in the United States, the film works a little less well internationally, which only represents 30% of its audience. It should nevertheless reach the 700 million mark worldwide at the end of the journey.
Wicked should end its run beyond $700 million worldwide. © Universal Pictures
The other novelty of the week was The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. Initially planned to be a series, the animated film produced by the iconic trio Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens disappoints with only $4.6 million earned for its launch despite being released on more than 2,600 screens. It remains a failure despite a modest budget of $30 million.
The animated film War of the Rohirrim disappoints at the box office. © Warner Bros. Discovery
US box office December 13-15, 2024 (estimates)
| MOVIE | WEEKEND | CUMULATIVE UNITED STATES | WORLD CUMULATION | WEEK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moana 2 | $26,621,000 | $337,516,469 | $717,016,469 | 3 |
| 2 | Wicked | $22,500,000 | $359,038,440 | $524,971,440 | 4 |
| 3 | Kraven The Hunter | $11,000,000 | $11,000,000 | $26,000,000 | 1 |
| 4 | Gladiator 2 | $7,801,000 | $145,935,658 | $398,535,658 | 4 |
| 5 | The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim | $4,600,000 | $4,600,000 | $10,300,000 | 1 |
