‘Madame Web’ might be a cinematic turd, but that didn’t stop one starlet from becoming a millionaire

Madame Web has gone down as one of the worst Marvel movies of all time. It’s the subject of widespread mockery, a financial disaster, and an embarrassment for Sony Pictures. That said, there’s one actor who’s now laughing all the way to the bank.

Sony’s Spider-Man Universe continues to struggle and disappoint comic book movie fans around the globe. Almost every film without Spidey becomes the laughingstock of its release date and the reviews aren’t getting any kinder. Lest we forget, Morbius morbed so that Madame Web could web, and how many people are genuinely cravin’ Kraven the Hunter right now?

One of the actors wasted in Madame Web is Sydney Sweeney. As a rising star in Hollywood, she plays a nothing part as Julia Cornwall here. Sure, fans see her in the Spider-Woman outfit – albeit briefly – but many viewers might have expected her to have a meatier or more substantial role in the SSU considering her burgeoning status in the entertainment industry. Since then, there’s been a fan-led drive to see her cast as Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, and for Agatha Harkness to use a spell to make everyone forget Sweeney played Julia in the first place.

For Sweeney, she has remained diplomatic about Madame Web, expressing to GQ how she had no control over the movie and played a character that made her cousins happy. Wildly, she even said she would be open to reprising the role of Julia again.

In the same interview, though, she revealed an important detail that explains why she said yes to such a strange superhero film in the first place. Sweeney said: 

“To me that film was a building block, it’s what allowed me to build a relationship with Sony. Without doing Madame Web I wouldn’t have a relationship with the decision-makers over there. Everything in my career I do not just for that story, but strategic business decisions. Because I did that, I was able to sell Anyone But You. I was able to get Barbarella.”

So, how smart was Sweeney here? According to The Hollywood Reporter, she played chess while everyone played checkers. She agreed to play Julia in Madame Web for $750,000 as a show of good faith to the studio. In turn, Sony paid her $2 million for Anyone But You. Part of the deal for the rom-com – in which she starred alongside Top Gun: Maverick star Glen Powell – included an extra $250,000 producing fee and backend profits. Considering that the movie made over $220 million on a paltry $25 million budget, Sweeney’s bank account gained a few extra zeroes when all was said and done.

Sweeney’s gravy train didn’t stop there as she dodged the fallout of Madame Web, with most of the backlash falling on the film’s lead, Dakota Johnson. Instead, studios saw the success of Anyone But You as a way of establishing Sweeney as a genuine box office draw and convincing Hollywood she’s the real deal. As such, she received $7.5 million for starring in Lionsgate’s The Housemaid.

This latest payday confirms Sweeney’s status as one of the highest-paid actors of her generation. She’s coining it at the moment and every studio needs to cough up serious money if they want her in their projects. More impressively, turned a bona fide mess like Madame Web into pure gold in the end. Maybe Jared Leto could learn a thing or two from Sweeney here.