Sony has delayed the release of Madame Web back three months. Sony Picture's latest entry in Sony's Spider-Man Universe based on the character Madame Web has been taking shape over the past few months with S.J. Clarkson set to direct and 50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson in the title role. Over the past month Sydney Sweeney, Emma Roberts, Isabela Merced, Celeste O'Connor, Tahar Rahim, Mike Epps, and Adam Scott have joined the cast in unknown roles.
Production on Madame Web began on July 11, 2022, and the film was set to be released on July 7, 2023. July 7 was the same date that Marvel Studios and Sony released Spider-Man: Homecoming back in 2017 so it made sense the studio would want to secure that release date. However July 2023 has filled up with a number of high-profile titles as Madame Web would have opened up the week after Indiana Jones 5 and then be followed by Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1, Oppenheimer, Barbie, and The Marvels.
Sony has now adjusted its release schedule and has delayed Madame Web out of the summer. Madame Web will now open in theaters on October 6, 2023, with Insidious 5 taking Madame Web's original July 7, 2023 release date. October 6, 2023, was previously held by Sony for an unknown Marvel film that has now been delayed to June 7, 2024. This delay now gives Madame Web an additional three months to film and edit before its release.
While July has been a great month for Spider-Man films, October has been incredibly successful for Sony's Spider-Man Universe. Both Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage opened on October 5, 2018, and October 1, 2021, respectively. Venom opened with $85 million and Venom: Let There Be Carnage opened to $90.1 million and at the time was the biggest opening weekend following the COVID-19 pandemic. Sony Pictures still does have a Spider-Man film dated for summer 2023 with the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on June 2.
Currently, the only other film dated for October 6, 2023, is 20th Century's sci-fi film True Love by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards and starring John David Washington and Gemma Chan. The only other films set for October 2023 are dated for the following week with Blumhouse sequel to The Excorcist and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie set for release on October 13, 2023. With Dune: Part Two being delayed from October to November, Sony is now hoping for Madame Web to become the must-see event film of the month and help recover after the box office disappointment of Morbius.
Source: Sony Pictures
