Into every young starlet’s life, a film must flop. And in the case of Sydney Sweeney, that flop is Sony’s Madame Web, a critically panned box office disaster well on its way to achieving cult trash status.
Sweeney plays Julia Cornwall in the film, a future Spider-Woman who gets tangled in Cassie Webb’s … well, you know. While the film features Sweeney (along with Celeste O’Connor and Isabela Merced) as future spider-heroes, given the film’s reception it’s unlikely that any of these spider-women will return for a sequel.
And that’s just fine for Sweeney, who is taking the film’s flop in stride. While hosting Saturday Night Live, the actress quipped “My name is Sydney Sweeney. You might have seen me in Anyone but You or Euphoria. You definitely did not see me in Madame Web.”
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the Euphoria actress discussed Madame Web’s response while promoting her new horror film Immaculate. “I was just hired as an actress in it, so I was just along for the ride for whatever was going to happen,” she said.
Honestly, this answer is refreshing and relatable. Every film is made up of countless moving parts and unforeseen events. A good script, a capable director, and a talented cast are not always a ticket to success. Things go awry, studio executives give bad notes, and nuance can get lost in the editing. Nobody sets out to make a bad movie, and everyone has good intentions.
Dakota Johnson also commented on the film’s panning in an interview with Bustle, saying, “It was definitely an experience for me to make that movie. 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.”
(featured image: Sony Pictures)
