Russell Crowe Sets Dakota Johnson Straight Following Her ‘Madame Web’ Criticism: “Here’s your role, play the role”

‘Madame Web’ was one of the biggest box office failures of 2023 for SSU, continuing the tradition of Universe’s poorly received movies. However, it’s important to note that the movie did find some modicum of success on Netflix. In any case, following the disastrous release of the movie, most of the actors involved with it didn’t comment on it all that much.

However Dakota Johnson did land herself in hot water for criticism of the studio, and these types of superhero movies overall. Johnson criticized executive decisions and the fact that these types of movies are made on the basis of numbers and algorithms.

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 bullsht. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren’t going to fcking want to see those.

A good portion of the fanbase sides with Johnson, as one of the most often criticisms in the movies today in general is the fact that they mostly seem concerned with checking boxes rather than delivering a good story. The studio was very disappointed with Johnson following her statements and now Russell Crowe, who had experience with all superhero cinematic universes is weighing on the matter, in an attempt to convey a meaningful message to Johnson.

In his recent interview with GQ, Crowe was asked about his experience with big superhero production, and he was honest – it’s just a job.

You’re telling me you signed up for a Marvel movie, and some fucking universe for cartoon characters… and you didn’t get enough pathos? Not quite sure how I can make this better for you. It’s a gigantic machine, and they make movies at a certain size. And you know, I’ve experienced that on the DC side with Man of Steel, Zack Snyder, and I’ve experienced it on the Marvel side via Disney with Thor: Love and Thunder. And I’ve also experienced the [Sony-produced] Marvel dark universe with Kraven the Hunter. These are jobs. You know: here’s your role, play the role. If you’re expecting this to be some kind of life-changing event, I just think you’re here for the wrong reasons.

Crowe also commented on what the Marvel process was like for him under Waititi:

It can be challenging, working in a blue-screen world, when you have to convince yourself of a lot more than just the internal machinations of your character. But for anything to be… and you can’t make this a direct comment on her because I don’t know her and I don’t know what she went through, and the fact that you can have a shit experience on a film… Yeah, you can. But is that the Marvel process? I’m not sure you can say that. I haven’t had a bad experience. I mean [on Thor], OK, it’s a Marvel movie, but it’s Taika Waititi’s world, and it was just a gas every day, being silly.

The next movie in which we’re going to see Crowe is SSU’s ‘Kraven the Hunter.’ Fans are already preparing to see what Sony has cooked up next, while the execs claim the new release date for the movie was chosen so “people can watch the movie multiple times.” Here’s what Crowe had to say about the development of ‘Kraven the Hunter’:

And then, with JC Chandor on Kraven, I’m just bringing a little weight to the circumstances, so the young actors have got an actor they can bounce off. Going to work with JC was fun. You know, so many of these directors have a certain skill level – freaking genius people. Think about what’s required, right? It’s everything: the composition, the framing, the colour, the music, what’s left outside the camera. Whether it’s [Proof director] Jocelyn Moorhouse or it’s Ridley Scott, you’re talking about hanging out with geniuses.

Is Crowe right? Let us know in the comments below!

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