The fate of Sony’s Madame Web was already predetermined even before the movie’s release with fans trolling the official trailer and critics slamming it in their early reviews, but no one predicted Sydney Sweeney’s romantic comedy movie, Anyone But You, would emerge as a sleeper hit.
The actress also starred in Madame Web as Julia Carpenter, though a lot of fans think she was miscast. Interestingly, Anyone But You and Madame Web were distributed by Sony, so it seems that the loss of the Marvel film could be offset by the success of the rom-com movie.
Anyone But You Beats Madame Web At The Box Office
According to Variety, Madame Web grossed over $17 million during its opening weekend and earned $25 million in domestic sales on its 6-day debut. It has now gained the title of the worst opening in the history of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, even failing to beat Morbius’ weekend opening gross of $39 million.
Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s Anyone But You, on the other hand, has surpassed the $100 million international mark this weekend. This is a huge surprise for many, but since it was Valentine’s Day week, that could also be a factor in its unexpected success.
Many fans assume that this could be the renaissance of romantic comedy movies. The genre was very popular in the early 2000s but experienced a decline over the years due to the popularity of comic book movies. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, told USA Today:
“The entire superhero genre has had a really rough go of it over the past year. Certain things are no longer a sure bet. Except maybe now, the musical biopic has become the go-to genre. It just shows how tastes can change.”
Indeed, a low-budget rom-com film can help Sony save its loss from Dakota Johnson’s superhero movie. Will Gluck, writer-director of Anything But You, told CNBC:
“Studios are, at the end of the day, businesses. So, if they start to see a certain thing is successful, they’re going to try to replicate that success. So, I don’t think there’s an inherent bias against rom-coms and comedies.”
This goes to show that fans’ preferences when it comes to movies can change over time, and the superhero fatigue is very real and still plaguing the community.
Are Superhero Movies A Thing Of The Past Now?
The superhero genre is probably not the issue with Madame Web’s disappointing box office opening. This year, the cinema will have a resurgence of comic book movies with Deadpool & Wolverine and Joker: Folie á Deux, and so far, fans have expressed excitement over teaser photos and videos of them.
Franchise Entertainment Research’s David A. Gross claimed via Variety: “Once upon a time, you could pluck a character out of a popular superhero movie and make a hit film about them. That was more than five years ago.”
Sydney Sweeney might want to enjoy her success with Anyone But You as it does not look like Madame Web will help advance her acting career.
