I’m pulling for J.C. Chandor to deliver something watchable with “Kraven the Hunter.” The first trailer, released in April, was the butt of many jokes, but this latest one is a surprising improvement.
Sony desperately wants us to take this film more seriously, which means they’ve upped the blood-soaked gore in this new graphic trailer. Kraven is a one-man killing machine. Hide the kids. The PR campaign is definitely now in full swing.
Just yesterday, Sony told Deadline that the reshoots on ‘Kraven’ made the film infinitely better. In that same piece, the studio wanted us to know that they were so impressed by a cut of ‘Kraven’ that they immediately decided to sign up Chandor for another film.
Set for release on December 13, it’s quite puzzling why Sony would think the R-rated ‘Kraven’ is ideal for the holidays. If anything, along with “Nosferatu,” this’ll be seen as adult-oriented Christmas counterprogramming.
Dubbed as an anti-hero film, which is also an origin story, Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as Kraven, aka Sergei Dimitri Symostivych Kravinoff, a Russian game hunter betrayed by his father and left for dead after a brutal lion attack. His blood gets all mixed up with the animal, and Kraven ends up developing superhuman strength.
‘Kraven’ cost $130 million to produce, and that’s before recent reshoots. Sony has a long way to go to convince a large audience to go watch this one. Word of mouth will indeed be needed, and so will decent reviews.
Directed by Chandor (“A Most Violent Year”), the film stars Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Christopher Abbott, Alessandro Nivola, Russell Crowe, and Fred Hechinger.