Dakota Johnson: Madame Web wasn't my fault

Bang Showbiz on Jun 7, 2025

Published in Women

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Dakota Johnson feels she wasn't to blame for 'Madame Web's box-office failure.

The 35-year-old actress starred alongside the likes of Sydney Sweeney and Isabela Merced in the S.J. Clarkson-directed superhero film, which was widely panned by fans and critics - but Dakota insists she wasn't responsible for the film's failures.

The Hollywood star told the Los Angeles Times newspaper: "It wasn't my fault.

"There's this thing that happens now where a lot of creative decisions are made by committee. Or made by people who don't have a creative bone in their body. And it's really hard to make art that way. Or to make something entertaining that way. And I think unfortunately with 'Madame Web', it started out as something and turned into something else. And I was just sort of along for the ride at that point. But that happens.

"Bigger-budget movies fail all the time."

Dakota insists she won't dwell on the film's underwhelming box-office performance.

She said: "I don't have a Band-Aid over it. There's no part of me that's like, 'Oh, I'll never do that again' to anything. I've done even tiny movies that didn't do well. Who cares?"

Dakota previously admitted that she's unlikely to make another superhero movie.

The actress also questioned the approach to making 'Madame Web'.

She told Bustle in 2024: "It's so hard to get movies made, and in these big movies that get made -- and it's even starting to happen with the little ones, which is what's really freaking me out -- decisions are being made by committees, and art does not do well when it's made by committee.

"Films are made by a filmmaker and a team of artists around them. You cannot make art based on numbers and algorithms. My feeling has been for a long time that audiences are extremely smart, and executives have started to believe that they're not.

"Audiences will always be able to sniff out bull****. Even if films start to be made with AI, humans aren't going to f****** want to see those.

"But it was definitely an experience for me to make that movie. I had never done anything like it before. I probably will never do anything like it again because I don't make sense in that world. And I know that now."

Dakota didn't enjoy the backlash that came her way after 'Madame Web' was released. But she also considers the movie to be a learning experience for her.

The actress reflected: "Sometimes in this industry, you sign on to something, and it's one thing and then as you're making it, it becomes a completely different thing, and you're like, Wait, what? But it was a real learning experience, and of course it's not nice to be a part of something that's ripped to shreds, but I can't say that I don't understand."