It used to be that mainstream movies were made because people wanted to see them.

The idea would have enough legs that studios knew they’d make their money back and satisfy the enormous amorphous blob known as the movie-going public. A major film flopping was a notable headline, the wound of failure being prodded by the trades, press, and audiences.

How did something a studio held such confidence in bomb so drastically? It’s a curious side of Hollywood lore, where examining its failures can be more illuminating than looking at its successes. Showgirls is certainly a more interesting pop culture artifact than Titanic, at the end of the day.

But now movies flopping is almost a weekly occurrence, and studios go into them knowing they’re holding a bomb. It doesn’t quite make sense. Look at Madame Web, Sony’s new entry into the Spider-Man film universe, which is currently making its way through empty movie theatre chains. Were you, dear reader, aware that there was such a character in Spider-Man named Madame Web?

Perhaps you missed the enthusiasm for the character, or the campaign to put the beloved character on the big screen. Or perhaps, you didn’t, as Madame Web wasn’t made for the enjoyment of, well, anyone.

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Madame Web is the product of a contractual........

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