Dakota Johnson Says She’ll Never Do Anything Like Madame Web Again

The Spider-Man spinoff Madame Web is the year’s biggest critical and financial disappointment for movie theaters, with star Dakota Johnson considering it such an eye-opening experience that she doesn’t see herself ever getting involved in a major studio blockbuster ever again. While the actor is no stranger to projects that fans are highly anticipating, having starred in the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy, Johnson recently recalled that there are so many perspectives involved in bringing the story to life that the final product suffered from it, with audiences themselves then not connecting with the amalgam of ideas.

“Unfortunately, I’m not surprised that this has gone down the way it has,” Johnson shared with Bustle about the reactions to the movie. “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. 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 bullsh-t. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to f-cking want to see those.”

With more than 200 reviews calculated, aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes claims that only 12% of these reviews are positive, an abysmal score for any film, let alone a comic book film featuring major stars. After being in theaters for nearly three weeks, the film has yet to make $100 million worldwide. 

While the critical reactions are overwhelmingly negative, there isn’t one prevailing complaint that critics have with the movie, which echoes Johnson’s remarks about the film being created by a committee, as reviews have discredited the film for a number of different components.

“But it was definitely an experience for me to make that movie. I had never done anything like it before,” the actor expressed. “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.”

While there are currently no plans for future Madame Web films, the franchise will continue later this year with Kraven the Hunter and Venom 3.

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