Madame Web may have flopped during its run in cinemas, but the superhero film has seemingly found an audience following its streaming release.
The Spider-Man spin-off follows Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson), a paramedic who develops abilities as a clairvoyant after suffering an accident. With her newfound powers, she helps a trio of young women who are chased by a malevolent explorer turned villain (Tahar Rahim).
The film was panned by critics upon its release in February, and didn’t fare much better with audiences as it only grossed $100 million worldwide against a rumoured production budget of $80 million, leaving the future of the franchise unclear.
Related: Madame Web’s Dakota Johnson reveals her ideal Marvel team-up
Despite the poor reviews and lacklustre box office performance, the film seems to have found a new lease of life following its release on Netflix, with the superhero flick becoming the most watched feature on the service by US audiences since its release on Wednesday.
Johnson had previously addressed the poor reception to the film as she revealed that she wasn’t surprised by the response, saying: “Unfortunately, I'm not surprised that this has gone down the way it has.
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“It's so hard to get movies made, and in these big movies that get made – and it's even starting to happen with the little ones, which is what's really freaking me out – decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it's made by committee.
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“Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they're not.
“Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullshit. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to f**king want to see those,” she continued.
Madame Web is available to stream on Netflix in the US.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
