Actor Dakota Johnson is speaking out about the critical and commercial failure of Madame Web, saying the film’s poor reception was the result of decisions made by people lacking creative insight—not by the cast or artistic team.
In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times while promoting her upcoming A24 film Materialists, Johnson addressed the disappointing outcome of Madame Web, which grossed just $43 million domestically and holds a mere 11% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Johnson said. “There’s this thing that happens now where a lot of creative decisions are made by committee—or made by people who don’t have a creative bone in their body. It’s really hard to make art that way. Or even make something entertaining.”
Johnson, who played the title role of Cassandra Webb—a paramedic who gains clairvoyant powers after a near-death experience—added that the film evolved into something different from what she originally signed on for. “It started out as something and turned into something else. I was just sort of along for the ride at that point,” she said. “But that happens. Bigger-budget movies fail all the time.”
Despite the backlash, Johnson said she holds no regrets. “There’s no part of me that’s like, ‘Oh, I’ll never do that again,’” she explained. “I’ve done even tiny movies that didn’t do well. Who cares?”
In a separate interview with Bustle earlier this year, Johnson criticized the increasing reliance on data-driven decisions in filmmaking. “You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms,” she said. “Audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they’re not. Audiences will always be able to sniff out bullshit.”
Now, Johnson is focused on Materialists, the new romantic comedy from Past Lives director and Oscar nominee Celine Song. The film, which co-stars Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans, marks Johnson’s return to the rom-com genre for the first time since 2016’s How to Be Single.
Johnson said she was drawn to Materialists because of its emotional depth and relatable characters. “They’re not good,” she said of other rom-com scripts she’s turned down. “A lot of what I read these days is void of soul and heart. And Celine is all soul and heart.”
She described Materialists as a film that explores the emotional confusion people face in modern relationships. “The paradox. Everyone being confused about what the fuck they’re supposed to do with their hearts,” she said. “I found that very honest and just so relatable.”
Materialists opens in theaters June 10 from A24.
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