Dakota Johnson Breaks Silence on 'Madame Web' Flop: 'It Wasn't My Fault'

Published: June 4, 2025

Dakota Johnson is finally speaking out about the failure of her 2024 superhero movie Madame Web, and she's not taking the blame.

Johnson, 35, recently sat down with the Los Angeles Times and opened up about the movie's disappointing performance, saying, "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."

Johnson, who starred alongside Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O'Connor, Isabela Merced, and Emma Roberts in the Sony Pictures film, believes that the movie's creative decisions were made by committee, which ultimately led to its downfall.

"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," Johnson explained. "And it's really hard to make art that way. Or to make something entertaining that way."

Despite the negative reviews and the movie's poor performance at the box office, the actress seems unbothered by the experience.

"I've done even tiny movies that didn't do well. Who cares?" Johnson said with a laugh. "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."

Johnson's latest movie, Materialists, is set to hit theaters on June 13 and marks a departure from her superhero days. In the romantic comedy, Johnson portrays a New York City matchmaker whose love life becomes caught between two men, played by Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal.

When asked why she hasn't made more romantic comedies, Johnson credited the movie's writer-director Celine Song for bringing soul and heart to the project.

"I think a lot of what I read these days is void of soul and heart, and [writer-director Song] is all soul and heart," Johnson said. "I really love a rom-com if it feels like I can connect to the people in it. And I think I've found it hard to connect to the people in some of the ones that I've been offered."

Dakota Johnson in 2024's Madame Web. Credit : Beth Dubber/SONY PICTURES

Dakota Johnson in Materialists.

For more on Dakota Johnson and her latest projects, check out Gracie Lawrence Lives for Jonathan Groff's Spit in Broadway's Just in Time: I Want That Talent Juice, and NFL Player Jake McQuaide Escorted Out of Church by Police After Demanding Answers in Pornography Scandal.

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