Sydney Sweeney Says ‘Madame Web’ Was a ‘Business Decision’ That Set Up Relationships at Sony: ‘Because I Did That,’ I Got ‘Anyone but You’ Sold

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Sydney Sweeney said in a recent interview with GQ UK that starring in Sony’s “Madame Web” was a “strategic business decision” that more or less paid off despite the film being one of the year’s most infamous box office flops.

In Sweeney’s eyes, “Madame Web” got her in the door at Sony Pictures and that’s where she was able to have a massive box office success with the romantic comedy “Anyone but You.” “To me, that film was a building block, it’s what allowed me to build a relationship with Sony,” Sweeney told the publication. “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.’” “Madame Web” was widely panned by film critics earlier this year and it flopped at the box office, where it still hasn’t crossed the $100 million mark worldwide.

It’s a far cry from the hit Sweeney delivered with “Anyone but You,” a romantic comedy co-starring Glen Powell that opened in December and generated $214 million worldwide for Sony Pictures.