Dakota Johnson is sorry but not surprised that “Madame Web” was criticized so badly. She said she would never participate in a similar project.
Sony’s Madame Web is one of the biggest failures in comic book film history, NBC News said. After more than 3 weeks of release, the film only earned 40 million USD at the North American box office and its total global revenue has not yet exceeded 100 million USD. With a production budget of 80 million USD, the work of director S.J. Clarkson is predicted to barely break even.
In terms of reviews, the film was given a C+ by CinemaScore and a “rotten” tomato score of 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic page gives the work 27/100 points. On IMDb, Madame Web received 3.8/10 points from 17 thousand voters.
An unimpressive debut in the superhero universe caused the career of female lead Dakota Johnson to be somewhat affected. For her, Madame Web is regret.
“Never act in similar movies”
“It’s unfortunate, but I’m not shocked that the movie is slipping like it is now,” Dakota Johnson shared with Bustle in her latest interview.
The star also said that decisions were placed in the hands of many coordinating production units, making the final edit not a true work of art.
“You can’t have good, artistic movies based on numbers and algorithms. In any case, this is definitely a new experience for me in filming. But maybe I will never participate in it.” similar project because I had no meaning in that world,” she said.
According to Johnson, modern audiences are extremely smart, they will recognize what is a quality movie and what is a genre produced to serve commercial needs in an “instant noodle” style. Even movies that are invested with great investment in AI technology but have cliché and absurd content are not accepted by the majority.
Playing Madame Web, the 35-year-old star realized the truth that when she researches deeply and signs a contract to participate in a work, she will realize that it is completely different from the original impression. At these times, she could only say: “Wait, what?”.
Johnson sees this as an expensive lesson to grow and adjust decisions according to the initially outlined direction.
Previously, in response to L’Officiel magazine, Hollywood stars frankly admitted that the filmmaking process today is generally “very boring”. As she said, the operators of online platforms no longer trust the creativity of directors or actors, they only focus on whether the movie makes money or not.
Faith after the disappointment of Madame Web
According to Time, because she was once framed as a “beauty who specializes in hot scenes” after the Fifty Shades series, Johnson is constantly trying to surpass herself with new, more thorny and different roles. Maybe Cassandra Webb in Madame Web was poorly received due to bad content, but it cannot be denied her fitting way of portraying the character.
Some writers said that, from a positive perspective, Madame Web helped Johnson realize that she was not suitable for the superhero genre of constantly punching or having to stiffen her face to show dangerous expressions. For a generation of talented actors like Johnson, art films that require depth with rich content are “fertile ground for her to explore”.
Temporarily setting aside Sony’s superhero project, fans expect Johnson to have more impressive roles no less than the role of mother Nina in The Lost Daughter.
According to The Guardian, Johnson’s 2024 will be quite busy with new projects. In the immediate future, she and Sean Penn are preparing to reunite with the audience in the TV series Daddio. The work, produced by Sony Pictures Classics, released its trailer on February 21, showing the two main actors having tearful conversations.
Daddio debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, telling the story of a special taxi ride from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to midtown Manhattan (USA). Johnson was the passenger, and Penn was the taxi driver in the first film to use Volume technology – allowing for expanded camera perspectives, cloning of crowds or extras, green screen creation plus countless other features. other ability.
“Hopefully with Daddio, Dakota will be received more positively than Madame Web,” commented Collider.
Besides, Johnson is preparing to play the lead role in the sequel to Past Lives, directed by Celine Song. Variety revealed that two handsome actors Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans are negotiating with A24 to become a part of this rom-com.
