Broadway Legend Joined: 3/23/17
ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "JSquared2 said: "and do not DM me to ask me to buy tickets from you."
So are CreamPuff, BirdieBoy, and KrupYou all the same person? Because they've all tried to pawn off tickets of late."
Oh yeah —theylre also the departed (and despised ) Broadway Flash!
DAME said: "Sitting in a theater . I am the only one here."
Same happened to me at my screening in Kansas City! I enjoyed the film though it was a bit dull. Disappointed nearly all of my favorite songs were relegated to underscoring.
As someone totally unfamiliar to the stage show, I can’t help but feel like the writing was there to bring strong parallels between their imprisoned lives and the movies they loved… but the execution just didn’t live up to the writing. The movie scenes felt cheap, and the prison felt totally disconnected. They had the same actors play the parts… did we have to cut back to the prison EVERY time they spoke? They never let the audience really live in the Hollywood world the protagonists dreamed about.
Updated On: 10/12/25 at 01:50 AM
Firstly, kudos to the people that financed this movie, and marketed it as an indie, knowing it'll be DOA at the box office but do better when it's streaming, and will likely be remembered down the line come awards season.
As for the film itself, as a huge fan of the original music, I was hard pressed to hate all the changes. But overall, I have to say I was impressed by almost all the work Condon made. And there were many moments where I became overwhelmed with emotion. The musical numbers worked a lot better than I thought they would,
I think my real frustration came in some of the jail cell scenes. For some reason, I feel like Condon didn't trust in the material or the performances, or got nervous about the confined spaced so there were just many camera angles, so many cuts to the next shot, so many handheld jerky moments. I really just wanted to sit with some of these moments but at times they seem so rushed.
Which is funny because he really did a great job of capturing performances. Tonatiuh was outstanding,in a performance in a role that could easily be rritating in so many close-ups, but he modulated for the camera and qiuckly projected the warmth you needed to see. Luna felt slightly miscast as times - as I don't think he translated in the musical number, but I think overall he shined brightly when he really needed to in the real-world scenes. And Lopez was lovely in her roles. She sang it fine, danced it great, and did well to make her performance fit the world of the film. It's not like movie-within-a-movie is especially deep: it's colorful, it's arch, it's camp b-movie. She was overall great.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/1/04
Saw this on Friday night (Philly suburb, 7 of us in the theatre) and really loved it. I've never seen the musical, only the play, but I was very taken with Conden's concept and the juxtaposition of the bleak prison scenes with the vibrant fantasy sequences. (Big "Steppin' to the Bad Side" vibes from the morphine dream, so he definitely has a style.)
The final act is a bit tedious, but making this movie with this message right now feels so very right, and I left with only positive feelings despite some pacing issues. I'm sad it's not finding an audience.
perfectliar said: "Saw this on Friday night (Philly suburb, 7 of us in the theatre) and really loved it. I've never seen the musical, only the play, but I was very taken with Conden's concept and the juxtaposition of the bleak prison scenes with the vibrant fantasy sequences. (Big "Steppin' to the Bad Side" vibes from the morphine dream, so he definitely has a style.)
The final act is a bit tedious, but making this movie with this message right now feels so very right, and I left with only positive feelingsdespite some pacing issues. I'm sad it's not finding an audience."
It doesn't seem like it's receiving much of a press/marketing push at all.
everythingtaboo said: "Firstly, kudos to the people that financed this movie, and marketed it as an indie, knowing it'll be DOA at the box office but do better when it's streaming, and will likely be remembered down the line come awards season."
I think the film will be long forgotten by then.
I…did not like this, sadly. I thought the direction was extremely sloppy (this is the same man who gave us the wonderful DREAMGIRLS film?!). The musical numbers were clearly supposed to feel lush and extravagant, like the MGM movie musicals of yore, but I found the production design and execution to be cheap, cheap, cheap.
J.Lo was a huge “no” for me. She was sorely missing that “X Factor” the role screams for. (See: Chita or even Vanessa Williams.) She put zero emotion into what she was singing! The lyrics fell out of her mouth like beats she was marking during a rehearsal. Her dancing is fine but felt timid and restrained to me? When I am more impressed by the sheer charisma and technique of the chorus boys, there is a huge problem. It didn’t help that I strongly disliked the choreography…
Diego Luna and Tonatiuh are both strong (the latter fares the best - I’d love to see him onstage some day, if he has the chops for it).
But overall, a very disappointing adaptation.
It really made me appreciate what Nicole achieved in SUNSET even more. (And that was LIVE 8x a week!) Not every pop star can successfully translate that energy to the medium of musical theater / movie musicals. Sorry, Jennifer.
Did anyone else notice Graciela Daniele?
Some bright spots and when "Where You Are" came I thought, "Okay, here we go." But ultimately, this is a pretty bitter disappointment and attempting to fit this into CHICAGO/CABARET's film devices was just not worth it. The numbers that remain are frequently contextualized to mean less and move the story less, and the score has a sameness now. It's such a niche film that I really wonder about the thinking of gutting the show to appeal to a broad audience that clearly just does not exist for this property. It's a creatively timid approach that would seem to fully satisfy no audience at all. The cast was mostly very good.
I also agree that the climax is not as effective without Valentin's presence and Molina bravely choosing not to talk, insisting that his fate would then be for nothing, showing his (or in this version maybe their or even her) change and growth. The consummation of their relationship is also made a lot less complex. The Spider Woman herself has no real weight or mystery because the filmmaking is just not up to the task.
In all, I appreciate that this exists but it is a baffling result.
Did we need to see Diego Luna sh*t himself up close? Like, gimme a break .
Chorus Member Joined: 2/26/23
“Kiss of the Spider Woman” bowed far below projections at No. 13 with a paltry $840,000 from 1,300 screens
https://variety.com/2025/film/box-office/tron-ares-box-office-opening-weekend-roofman-kiss-of-the-spider-woman-1236544376/
biggest flop ever
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/12/09
MimiChika said: "biggest flop ever"
There are actually much bigger flops, I'm not sure why some people need to be hyperbolic about this movie as if it was ever intended to be a big box office contender.
Chorus Member Joined: 2/26/23
TheatreFan4 said: "MimiChika said: "biggest flop ever"
There are actually much bigger flops, I'm not sure why some people need to be hyperbolic about this movie as if it was ever intended to be a big box office contender."
The movie cost 35 million. Are you implying they produced to movie to be a flop? They wanted the movie to be a hit. Duh
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/12/09
MimiChika said: "The movie cost 35 million. Are you implying they produced to movie to be a flop? They wanted the movie to be a hit. Duh"
Nobody wants a flop, but you post as though it entertains you that it's not doing well. There is a difference.
Chorus Member Joined: 2/26/23
TheatreFan4 said: "MimiChika said: "The movie cost 35 million. Are you implying they produced to movie to be a flop? They wanted the movie to be a hit. Duh"
Nobody wants a flop, but you post as though it entertains you that it's not doing well. There is a difference."
Is not entertaining. Is a FACT: one of the biggest flops ever. Read film history. Learn something
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/12/09
MimiChika said: "TheatreFan4 said: "MimiChika said: "The movie cost 35 million. Are you implying they produced to movie to be a flop? They wanted the movie to be a hit. Duh"
Nobody wants a flop, but you post as though it entertains you that it's not doing well. There is a difference."
Is not entertaining. Is a FACT: one of the biggest flops ever. Read film history. Learn something"
There are countless films that are losing in the hundreds of millions of dollars. As you pointed out, this has a paltry budget of $35M. Save it.
Featured Actor Joined: 12/3/15
MimiChika said: "TheatreFan4 said: "MimiChika said: "The movie cost 35 million. Are you implying they produced to movie to be a flop? They wanted the movie to be a hit. Duh"
Nobody wants a flop, but you post as though it entertains you that it's not doing well. There is a difference."
Is not entertaining. Is a FACT: one of the biggest flops ever. Read film history. Learn something"
Ok but first you said it was the biggest flop ever.
You were called out that there are bigger flops.
Now you said it is ONE OF the biggest flops ever.
Read the chat history. Learn something.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/12/09
Observation said: "
Ok but first you said it was the biggest flop ever.
You were called out that there are bigger flops.
Now you said it is ONE OF the biggest flops ever.
Even that is not realistic. Like I noted, the budget is small (relatively). Even just going from an incomplete list of over 100 films on Wikipedia, there are only two films on it with a net loss of less than this film's $35M budget, and they're both from the 60s.
One interesting thing to note: I saw it a second time tonight, and though there were weren't many people at either screening (more tonight than Friday, which I thought was intersting), both times most everyone who was there seemed to enjoy it. It may develop a following over the years to come.
Updated On: 10/13/25 at 12:33 AMBroadway Legend Joined: 3/23/17
MimiChika said: "TheatreFan4 said: "MimiChika said: "The movie cost 35 million. Are you implying they produced to movie to be a flop? They wanted the movie to be a hit. Duh"
Nobody wants a flop, but you post as though it entertains you that it's not doing well. There is a difference."
Is not entertaining. Is a FACT: one of the biggest flops ever. Read film history. Learn something"
How many of these “burner accounts” have you created and warehoused over the years, Broadway Flash (and don’t even think of DMing me to try and sell me a ticket)?
Double post, I don't know how.
Updated On: 10/13/25 at 12:40 AM
WiCkEDrOcKS said: "Diego Luna and Tonatiuh are both strong (the latter fares the best - I’d love to see him onstage some day, if he has the chops for it)."
This recent article notes that Tonatiuh "is working to secure the rights to what he hopes will be his Broadway debut", although no further details are provided on that: http://nytimes.com/2025/10/10/movies/tonatiuh-kiss-of-the-spiderwoman.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tE8.VeHS.DkoTjrEqDIMF&smid=url-share .
This was supposed to be Lopez’s comeback to the Oscar conversations, but I think she’s been skunked.
Again.
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/12/09
east side story said: "This was supposed to be Lopez’s comeback to the Oscar conversations, but I think she’s been skunked.
Again."
J Lo's wants always far exceed her ability to actually be a contender.
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