It’s safe to say that Madame Web was a bit of a disaster; not only did the Marvel movie get absolutely eviscerated by critics, but it was also a certified box office bomb, grossing just $100.3 million worldwide. That said, sometimes it’s hard to look away from a disaster, and I suspect that’s why audiences have been flocking to Madame Web now that it’s streaming on Netflix.
Madame Web has made it to Netflix’s Top Ten list for the week of May 13-19, taking the top spot on the U.S. chart. As for the global chart, the film is sitting pretty at second place, just behind Mother of the Bride. The film has been viewed 10.8 million times during that period, which equates to 20.8 million viewing hours. Judging by the reaction on social media, most are curious to see if the movie really is as bad as they’ve been led to believe, so I can’t imagine the film is going to spend much time on the list now that most people have already checked it out. But who knows, we might have another Morbius situation on our hands if Sony Pictures drastically misunderstands the situation and tries to bring it back to theaters.
Madame Web star Dakota Johnson later slammed the movie, saying she would never do anything like it again. “It was definitely an experience for me to make that movie,” Johnson said. “I had never done anything like it before. I probably will never do anything like it again, because I don’t make sense in that world. And I know that now. But sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it’s one thing and then as you’re making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you’re like, ‘Wait, what?’ But it was a real learning experience, and of course it’s not nice to be a part of something that’s ripped to shreds, but I can’t say that I don’t understand.“
Madame Web stars Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, “a paramedic in Manhattan who develops the power to see the future… and realizes she can use that insight to change it. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she forges a relationship with three young women bound for powerful destinies…if they can all survive a deadly present.“
Our own Chris Bumbray reviewed Madame Web, which he called a “big mess.” It doesn’t seem as though this will be the franchise starter that Sony doubtlessly hoped it would be, as the “terrible, cornball dialogue and lacklustre pace” doom what would have been a “decent little B-side of a superhero film.” You can read the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.
Have you checked out Madame Web on Netflix?