Summary
Kraven the Hunterwas another box office bomb for the Sony Spider-Man Universe. However, one actor reacted with humor now that they starred in a more successful film playing in theaters.
Kraven the Hunterco-starred Alessandro Nivola as Aleksei Sytsevich, a Russian mercenary who participated in an experiment granting him the ability to transform into a powerful human-rhino hybrid. Of course, fans are now well aware thatKraven the Hunterwas a box office bomb, performing worse than fellow SonySpider-ManUniverse flopsMorbiusandMadame Web. Fortunately for Nivola, he also stars in a far more successful film titledThe Brutalist, an epic period drama and a serious contender to win Best Picture at this year’s Oscars ceremony.
After a limited release in late December,The Brutalistexpanded into more theaters starting in January. Over its fourth weekend of release and (its first real expansion),The Brutalistgrossed $1.3 million at the box office.Colliderreported that this was roughly $1 million thanKraven the Hunterearned that weekend, despiteThe Brutalistplaying in nearly 1,000 fewer theaters. On Twitter,Nivolashared a screenshot of Collider’s report onThe BrutalistoutperformingKraven the Hunter.He humorously asked fans how he should react to one of his films failing at the box office while the other was doing well. Nivola provided the following options: quit, celebrate, or eat a gummy and chill.
Fans responded to Nivola’s post with humor as well. Twitter user@DeadballDomainadvised Nivola to celebrate and eat the gummy because they didn’t even realize it was Nivola inKraven the HunterandThe Brutalistdespite seeing both films in the same week. In response, Nivola wrote, “Story of my whole career,” and included the “face with tears of joy” emoji. Fortunately for Nivola, he seemingly won at least one more ticket forKraven the Hunter. Twitter user@saturnstelliumswrote that “they had no idea” (presumably thatNivola was in Kraven the Hunter)and didn’t intend to watch the film in theaters but they now bought a ticket to see the movie. This exchange occurred one day afterKraven the Hunter’s digital release.
Perhaps Nivola can handle the Spider-Man Universe movie’s disastrous box office performance because he could see it coming. While then-outgoing Sony CEO Tony Vinciquerra wasmystified byKraven the Hunter’s poor reception, early box office projections indicated the film would flop. HavingThe Brutalistperform well and become an awards season darling likely helps ease any disappointment withKraven the Hunter. Perhaps this is a classic example of the adage, “You win some, you lose some.”
