Sydney Sweeney Is Surprisingly Chill About Madame Web Bombing at the Box Office

Madame Web star Sydney Sweeney shares how she feels about the film’s underwhelming box office performance. In a wide-ranging interview with Empire, the actress touched on her role in the Marvel Comics adaptation, which bombed when it played in theaters. Rather than bemoan the movie’s failure, Sweeney took a much more positive outlook on the situation, raving about the experience she had on set making the film. Though she admitted it would have been nice if Madame Web was successful, it was more important to her that she enjoyed her time on set with her co-stars.

“I mean, I had a really fun time, so that is all that matters to me,” Sweeney said. “I think that if you are enjoying what you do, it doesn’t really matter what the outcome is, on a box-office level. Of course, you want the film to be celebrated and loved and successful, because then everyone succeeds.”

Part of Sony’s now defunct Spider-Man Universe franchise, Madame Web was one of the more infamous film releases last year. Critically panned, it made only $100.4 million worldwide. Rather than jump start a new franchise for Sony, Madame Web “won” Worst Picture at this year’s Razzies. Along with Kraven the Hunter, its poor reception expedited the death of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. The studio is no longer pursuing projects starring Spider-Man adjacent characters.

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Though Madame Web is an infamous credit on Sweeney’s resume, she’s taken the film’s performance in stride. In the past, she’s pointed out how starring in Madame Web allowed her to cultivate a professional relationship with Sony. This led to her hit rom com Anyone But You finding a home at the studio and Sweeney scoring the lead role in the upcoming Barbarella remake.

It’s nice to see Sweeney has the right attitude regarding Madame Web. It’s extremely difficult to achieve a perfect batting average in the film industry; some projects are going to be misfires. Rather than getting too down about that, she’s put a positive spin on the whole situation, offering a blueprint for other actors. Even critically acclaimed films don’t please everyone in the audience, so the important thing is to ensure you’re having fun making the movie. And Madame Web turned out to benefit Sweeney in more ways than one. Anyone But You made $220 million worldwide. Any project can be a gateway to the next great business opportunity.

This isn’t to say Sweeney isn’t upset about Madame Web at all. In another world, this could have been a go-to franchise role for her to return to in between other projects. Some actors, like Elizabeth Olsen, view their Marvel characters as essentially career insurance, allowing them to pursue riskier creative endeavors since they know a return to the blockbuster well is iminent. Sweeney hasn’t landed a big-screen character like that yet, but she’s already made a name for herself in Hollywood and has no shortage of movies in development. Perhaps one day, another Marvel role will present itself to her.