This article was written by a student writer from the UCLA campus chapter.
If you're constantly online like I am, you may have heard about an upcoming service. madame web movie. In this film, paramedic Cassandra Webb develops her clairvoyant powers after surviving a traumatic accident. Her group teams up with three other young women and must survive the dangerous present to reach a powerful future.
The film, starring Dakota Johnson, Isabel Merced, Celeste O'Connor, and Sidney Sweeney, is the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is scheduled to be released on Valentine's Day. It's not uncommon for action movies to be released on Valentine's Day and romantic comedies on the opposite ( dead pool or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania), madame web's marketing team has been more enthusiastic about this idea than any other team.
Most notably, a TikTok-style video was recently released in which the cast answers the question, “What superpowers would you want on a first date?” They also released a skit with influencer Hayley Kalil about using clairvoyance to solve relationship problems. In addition to traditional Marvel marketing, the emphasis on romantic content seems a bit out of place and is confusing to moviegoers as well. Some people simply call marketing “the worst.”
So why? madame web Did the team decide to go in this confusing direction? My first guess would be to appeal to a female audience. The film features a female-led cast that spans a male-dominated Marvel fanbase and a feminist-centered plot. To be successful, madame web Therefore, to increase box office success, it must appeal to a growing demographic of action movie fans.
Plus, frankly, stars like Johnson and Sweeney haven't traditionally appealed to female viewers. Their most famous work is fifty shades of gray and euphoria, each weaponizing the male gaze to portray the actor as a sexually idealistic figure. Johnson even joked that, thanks to Sweeney, the film was “like an AI generated the perfect boyfriend movie.” This is not at all a commentary on the actors' strengths or their humanity, but rather a commentary on how filmmakers have exploited their conventional charm in past projects, often to the discomfort of both actors. and felt overly sexualized. Consider Sweeney's request for fewer topless scenes in the second season of . euphoria. In some respects, madame web It's really breaking the archetype of these actors in a pretty radical way. However, from a marketing perspective, madame web In that case, special efforts must be made to make the star attractive and empowering to the female audience and gaze.
However, despite the best intentions, it appears that the marketing missed the mark and the box office numbers suffered as well. Expected revenue is between $56 million and $101 million, which would lag behind other Spider-Verse projects such as: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
However, the opening weekend has not yet materialized.Only time will tell madame web able to overcome initial audience skepticism and succeed on the big screen.
