Dakota Johnson says she’ll ‘probably never do anything like’ Marvel flop Madame Web again
Blockbuster movie, based on Marvel comics, was severely panned by critics and fans
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Your support makes all the difference.Dakota Johnson has admitted she will likely never be involved in anything like Madame Web ever again after Sony’s blockbuster movie – based on Marvel’s Spider-Man universe – was “ripped to pieces” by fans and critics.
Following its cinematic release on Valentine’s Day (14 February), the film was quickly branded an “embarrassing mess” by critics.
The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey argued that it felt like “a desperate comic book misfire that seems embarrassed by its own existence” in her one-star review.
It currently sits at an abysmal 12 per cent rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.
“Unfortunately, I’m not surprised that this has gone down the way it has,” Johnson, who starred as the movie’s clairvoyant superhero, Cassandra Webb, told Bustle of the movie’s poor reception.
“Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms,” she explained.
“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 bulls***. Even if films start to be made with [artificial intelligence], humans aren’t going to f***ing want to see those.”
She continued: “But 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?’” Johnson added.
“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.”
In an earlier interview with TheWrap, the Fifty Shades of Grey actor, 34, confirmed that the Madame Web script underwent “drastic changes” after she had signed on to play the title lead.
Johnson leads the movie as Cassandra Webb, a New York paramedic who crosses paths with three young women whom she must protect from a mysterious adversary who wants them destroyed.
Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Emma Roberts, Adam Scott, Celeste O’Connor, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps and Zosia Mamet also star.
Madame Web is out in cinemas now.
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