“Kraven the Hunter” has again been delayed.
It’s now slotted for a December 13 release. This one keeps moving — it was previously scheduled for January 13, October 6, 2023, and, most recently, August 30, 2024; I bet, with this new date, Sony’s trying to get the same December boost ‘Aquaman 2’ got late last year.
‘Kraven’ cost $130 million to produce — higher than Sony’s other comic book movies, “Venom”, “Morbius” and “Madame Web”. The R rating won’t help it commercially either. The trailer has also been largely mocked online. Suffice to say, things have been looking rather dire for this one.
‘Kraven’ stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Russian immigrant Sergei Kravinoff who goes on a mission to prove that he is the greatest hunter in the world. Ariana DeBose, Russell Crowe and Christopher Abbott complete the cast. The trailer made it look bloody, merciless, and absolutely silly. The CGI also looked terrible.
Taylor-Johnson recently admitted in an interview that, in preparation for his ‘Kraven’ role, he studied the life and art of late wildlife photographer Peter Beard and actually stalked a deer. He’s going full method on this one.
The biggest downer when it comes to this movie is the fact that J.C. Chandor is directing it. Chandor is, was, in my world, a potential major U.S. filmmaker in the making. His first three films were “Margin Call,” “All is Lost” and “A Most Violent Year” — all strong statements. Why has Chandor decided to hop on-board the comic book train? Who knows. Maybe he wants the paycheck to fund his next more serious mid-budget effort.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.