About Kraven the Hunter
“Kraven the Hunter” is an upcoming superhero movie about a Marvel Comics character named Kraven. It is made by Columbia Pictures with Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions, and Matt Tolmach Productions. Sony Pictures is releasing the movie. This will be the sixth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU). The movie is directed by J. C. Chandor and written by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven, and the cast includes Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola, Christopher Abbott, and Russell Crowe.
Sony wanted to make a movie about Kraven for a long time and decided to do it in 2017. Richard Wenk was hired to write the script in August 2018, and Art Marcum and Matt Holloway joined later. J. C. Chandor started talks to direct in August 2020 and was confirmed in May 2021, when Aaron Taylor-Johnson was cast as Kraven. More actors were cast in early 2022, and filming started in late March in London, England, ending in mid-June. They also filmed in Iceland and planned to film in Glasgow.
“Kraven the Hunter” will be released in the United States on December 13, 2024.
Cast of Kraven the Hunter
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Sergei Kravinoff / Kraven:
A big-game hunter. Taylor-Johnson described his take on the character as a conservationist, a “protector of the natural world”, and an “animal lover”. Levi Miller portrays a young Sergei. - Ariana DeBose as Calypso: A voodoo priestess and Kraven’s love interest.
- Fred Hechinger as Dmitri Smerdyakov / Chameleon: Kraven’s estranged half-brother who is a master of disguise.
- Alessandro Nivola as Aleksei Sytsevich / Rhino: A Russian mercenary who can turn into a human-rhino hybrid.
- Christopher Abbott as the Foreigner: A mercenary and assassin.
- Russell Crowe as Nikolai Kravinoff: Kraven’s estranged father.
Production of Kraven the Hunter
Development of Kraven the Hunter
Director Sam Raimi wanted to include the Marvel character Kraven the Hunter in his fourth Spider-Man film, but the project was canceled in favor of rebooting the series with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012. Sony Pictures then announced plans in December 2013 to create a shared universe with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Kraven was hinted at in that film, and its director, Marc Webb, was interested in featuring the character.
In February 2015, Sony and Marvel Studios agreed to co-produce Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and integrate Spider-Man into the MCU. Sony announced their own shared universe, “Sony’s Spider-Man Universe,” in May 2017, starting with Venom (2018), and considered a Kraven film for this universe. Director Ryan Coogler wanted to use Kraven in his MCU film Black Panther (2018), but Sony owned the rights.
In August 2018, Sony hired Richard Wenk to write a Kraven the Hunter screenplay. He had to introduce Kraven and decide who he would hunt, as Spider-Man likely wouldn’t appear due to the MCU deal. Wenk planned to stick to the comic book story, potentially including the “Kraven’s Last Hunt” storyline. He wanted Antoine Fuqua to direct, and Sony confirmed the film was developing in March 2019.
Jon Watts, director of Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, was interested in featuring Kraven in a third Spider-Man film but later dropped the idea for Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). By August 2020, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway had rewritten the Kraven script, and J.C.
Chandor was in talks to direct. Chandor was confirmed as director in May 2021, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson was cast as Kraven, signing on for multiple films. Sony had also considered other actors like Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves. By July, Jodie Turner-Smith was in talks to play Kraven’s love interest, Calypso. In October, Tom Holland mentioned discussing his potential return as Spider-Man in the Kraven film.
Pre-production of Kraven the Hunter
In early February 2022, Russell Crowe was chosen for a secret role. The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that many main characters in the movie would be part of Kraven’s family, and Crowe might play Kraven’s father. At that time, Kodi Smit-McPhee was offered the role of Chameleon, Kraven’s half-brother, but he couldn’t do it because of a scheduling conflict. Turner-Smith was confirmed not to be cast as Calypso.
Later in February, Fred Hechinger joined the cast, possibly as Chameleon. In March, Ariana DeBose joined, likely as Calypso. Alessandro Nivola was cast as a villain, and Christopher Abbott, who was reported to be the Foreigner, was cast as the main villain. Nivola said he joined the film to work with Chandor again after their previous movie, A Most Violent Year (2014). Taylor-Johnson was preparing for stunt training with Chandor near London for the next few weeks.
Filming of Kraven the Hunter
Filming started in Iceland in early February 2022 at Lake Mývatn, using the working title “Safari.” TrueNorth Productions managed the production with a crew of 80 people, filming for two days. The main filming began on March 20, 2022, in London, England, using the working title “Spiral.” Ben Davis was the cinematographer, having worked on several other Marvel movies.
In April, Levi Miller joined the cast, and a month later, Ariana DeBose confirmed she was playing Calypso and had already started filming in London. By mid-June, Aaron Taylor-Johnson finished his scenes and mentioned that the entire film was shot on location, which he felt added a beautiful and authentic touch to the story.
Alessandro Nivola also completed his filming around the same time and mentioned that the character’s abilities in the film were very realistic. The director, J.C. Chandor, described the film as showing the skills of an incredible Olympic athlete. Filming was also planned to take place in Glasgow, Scotland.
Post-production of Kraven the Hunter
In August 2022, Nivola announced that the movie would include a time jump and his character would undergo a physical transformation in the third part of the film, which he did without using visual effects. He described his role as a “classic villain” with a complex psychology and personal history.
In September 2022, Hechinger confirmed he would play Dmitri Smerdyakov, also known as Chameleon. Later that month, the film’s release was pushed to October 6, 2023.
In April 2023, it was confirmed that Crowe and Nivola would play Kraven’s father and the character Rhino, respectively. Taylor-Johnson confirmed that the movie would receive an R rating from the Motion Picture Association, the first SSU film to do so.
In July 2023, the film’s release was delayed again to August 30, 2024, due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. In August 2023, the final writing credits were announced: Wenk got sole credit for the story and shared credit for the screenplay with Marcum and Holloway. Additional literary credit was given to Donny Cates, Chris Bremner, Chandor, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Zak Olkewicz, and Oren Uziel.
In April 2024, the release date was delayed further to December 13, 2024, to avoid competition with other big movies. Tolmach said this delay was also because Sony was very excited about the film. Craig Wood is the film’s editor.
Music of Kraven the Hunter
Benjamin Wallfisch was hired in June 2023 to create the music for the film.
Marketing of Kraven the Hunter
Sony showed the first video from the film in a preview of upcoming movies at CinemaCon in April 2022. The first trailer was shown during Sony’s presentation at CinemaCon in April 2023. On June 19, 2023, the trailer leaked online. That same day, Sony released the official poster and a red band trailer.
Release of Kraven the Hunter
Kraven the Hunter is set to be released in theaters in the United States on December 13, 2024. You can watch it in IMAX and other big-screen formats. The movie was originally supposed to come out on January 13, 2023, but then it was changed to October 6, 2023, and later to August 30, 2024.
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