Emma Roberts blames the internet for Madame Web flopping in theaters (2024)

Emma Roberts blamed the internet for Madame Web not being a box office success in theaters and 'being made into a joke.'

The Scream Queens alum, 33 - who recentlyrevealed she does not 'want to date actors anymore'- opened up about her feelings towards the film's flop during an episode of the Just For Variety podcast.

The star took on the role of Mary Parker in the superhero movie - which also starred Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, Celeste O'Connor, Adam Scott and Tahar Rahim.

However, upon its release, Madame Web received poor reviews and prompted social media users to take to X to label the film as the 'dumbest movie' they have ever seen.

Roberts reflected to Variety, 'If it wasn't for internet culture and everything being made into a joke, I think that the reception would've been different.'

'And that's what bums me out about a lot of stuff, even stuff that I've done, is people just make such a joke out of everything now.'

She also added, 'Things work; things don't work. Everyone likes to act like they can predict if they're going to work or they're not.'

'And the truth is, you can't. Things do badly, and then they blow up later on TikTok. Things do well, but then you watch them, and you're like, "This did well?"'

Emma continued, 'There is no secret. It's about doing something goodish and it hitting at the right time. Everything else is like a wish and a prayer.'

However, the actress explained that she is 'not intimidated by failure, and I'm not intimidated by people having negative thoughts about something.'

The star shared her own opinion on the superhero film and said during the recent podcast episode, 'I personally really loved Madame Web. I really enjoyed the movie. I thought everyone in it was great.'

'The director, S.J. Clarkson, I think did an amazing job. She's the reason I wanted to do that movie.'

Emma also discussed how she deals with negative comments that are geared towards projects that she worked on.

'But you get these comments that can be rude. So I try not to look at it, because it's just people want to hate,' Roberts explained. 'Ifeel like I've dealt with that since I was 12 years old, so I have a thick skin around it.'

'But it just does bum me out. We've just cultivated now this hate culture towards celebrities and towards movies and television online.'

The mother-of-one stated, 'Where it used to be like five people reviewed a movie, and now it's like you have people that won't even say what their real name is saying how much they hate something.'

'I'm like, "At least everyone should have to put their driver's license number into their Instagram account, so you'd probably think twice before you said something rude if we had your driver's license info."'

Madame Web premiered in theaters on February 14 in the United States and raked in $100 million in the box office on a budget of $80 to $100 million.

During opening weekend, the movie only drew in $15.1 million and Johnson told Bustle in March, 'Unfortunately, I'm not surprised that this has gone down the way it has.'

'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.'

She added, '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.'

However, it was reported that Johnson angered Madame Web bosses for 'dragging' the Marvel flopand failing to 'take any responsibility' for its poor box office performance.

Most recently, Emma took onthe leading role of Rexin the Amazon Prime Video comedy - which released on the streaming site on July 4.

Other stars that were cast in the project include Tom Hopper, Gabrielle Union, Poppy Liu, Desi Lydic and also Yasha Jackson.

The premise follows: 'Rex, a Florida party girl, who turns out to be the only hope for the NASA space program after a fluke puts her in training with other candidates who may have better resumés, but don't have her smarts, heart, and moxie,' per IMDB.

Liz W. Garcia wrote and directed, Space Cadet, while also taking on a role of executive producer on the movie.

While also talking to Variety on the latest podcast episode, she opened up about first reading the script and gushed, 'I just fell so in love with it.'

'I felt like it really just reminded me of all the movies that I loved as a kid and a teen, and it felt super fresh, but at the same time really nostalgic.'

'Everything I had been reading was so dark and depressing and felt very kind of small, and I just wanted to do something that felt inspiring and fun and light, and this was that for me,' Roberts continued.

And late last month in June, the actress turned heads in a fashionable ensemble as she attended the star-studded premiere of Space Cadet in New York City.