Kraven the Hunter

Cinephile deep dive

The take

J.C. Chandor directs. Ben Davis behind the camera. Benjamin Wallfisch scores. Craig Wood cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Russian, Turkish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1$130M budget — tentpole studio territory.
• 2Earned back only 48% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 3Released 2 years ago.
• 4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Russian, Turkish.
• 5Directed by J.C. Chandor, shot by Ben Davis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Benjamin Wallfisch. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Craig Wood shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ariana DeBose and Fred Hechinger carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "Villains aren't born. They're made.".
• 10IMDB entry: tt8790086 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 9 themes, including "hunter", "superhero", "anti hero", "villain".
• 12Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Ben Davis

Original score

Benjamin Wallfisch

Editing

Craig Wood

Production design

Eve Stewart

Costume design

Sammy Sheldon

Makeup / hair

Christine Blundell

Sound

Brandon Proctor

Stunt coordinator

James M. Churchman

Runtime

127 min · 2h 7m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$130,000,000

Box office

$62,076,533

Return

48% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Kraven the Hunter (2024) ↗

Also by

J.C. Chandor

• 
  Margin Call

  2011 · ★ 6.9
• 
  All Is Lost

  2013 · ★ 6.6
• 
  A Most Violent Year

  2014 · ★ 6.6
• 
  Triple Frontier

  2019 · ★ 6.3

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Embrace Who You Really Are (Scene)

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  5 Minute Extended Preview

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Special Features Preview

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Eat Like Kraven

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  DS Hunt Safe 20"

  Teaser · Official
• 

  ▶
  DS Honor Safe 20"

  Teaser · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• r96sk2024-12-13
  ★ 4/10

  I've been quite generous in how I've received (the apparently now finished) <em>'Sony’s Spider-Man Universe'</em>, but even I can't give you any positives for this one. <em>'Venom'</em> is its peak, though I genuinely enjoyed <em>'Madame Web'</em> (don't @ me) and even (the not good) <em>'Morbius'</em> didn't overly bother me. <em>'Kraven the Hunter'</em>, however, did well and truly bore me. Aaron Taylor-Johnson offers a glimmer of hope, but this makes for a looooong 2hrs 7mins (why that long, I have no idea). The first few scenes, whilst nothing exceptional, are actually perfectly OK - I thought so, anyway. Though pretty much from the introduction of a young Calypso (no hate on Ariana DeBose btw, I like her and she tries) the movie quickly spirals. The characters of Russell Crowe and Alessandro Nivola (he, too, tries) are, to put it kindly, rather irritating. Christopher Abbott's role has some potential attached to it, though that countdown thing got repetitive real fast; almost as quick as 1... 2... nevermind. The stuff with Fred Hechinger's part, meanwhile, is bizarre, sure it makes sense based on his (bad) final scene but the whole voice bit felt silly at every moment; esp. when imitating Crowe's Nikolai. Probably for the best that this character and franchise ends here.

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2024-12-20
  ★ 6/10

  I can't really go lower than a six for this because ATJ is just so easy on the eye. Reductive? Well, yes, but if that's the only card a film has then you might as well get your shirt off and play it! Sadly, that is all that can really be said for this plodding superhero adventure. The "Kravinoff" siblings "Dimi" (Billy Barratt) and "Sergei" (Levi Miller) are taken out of their posh school by their oligarch father (Russell Crowe) and taken on a hunt in Ghana to develop their masculinity. They are on the trail of a lion called "Czar" and it's an encounter with him and then with a local girl called "Calypso" (Diaana Babnicova) that sees the latter brother emerge injured but changed. Quite profoundly changed too! Skip on many years and the "Sergei" (now Aaron Taylor-Johnson) has no relationship with his father, though is still in contact with his brother (now Fred Hechinger), and he has developed some remarkably animalistic ninja skills. He's the ultimate in natural forces for good. Meantime, though, things are hotting up amongst the criminal fraternity and a chance re-encounter with a grown up "Calypso" (Ariana DeBose) sets up a denouement with a nasty baddie who has to survive on refrigerated gel packs from his rucksack else he gets especially thick-skinned. Along the way there are several, quite violent, escapades that allow the star to show off his physical prowess, Crowe to show off his thick Siberian accent and Hechinger to look about as weedy as possible. Thereafter there isn't an original bone in it's CGI-fest of a body. The script is actually pretty diabolical and the plot really struggles to get off the ground as this lumbers, quite literally, along for over two hours. It's as if it were a few episodes of a mini-series hastily condensed into a film; it's bitty, disjointed and the denouement is all rather underwhelming. Clearly there is scope for a sequel, but I doubt anyone will have an appetite for it.

  Read full review ↓
• Chandler Danier2024-12-21
  ★ 6/10

  Kraven Hunter is good hunter. Very good actor, Mr Crowe. Picture move. Much excitement I feel in my heart. Wow. White man take black magic become invincible. Wow. Fresh movie.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Columbia Pictures

  US

• 

  Matt Tolmach Productions

  US

• AR

  Arad Productions

  US

• 

  TSG Entertainment II

  US

Key crew

• Production DesignEve Stewart
• Set DecorationMichael Standish
• Costume DesignSammy Sheldon
• Set DecorationPancho Chamorro
• Additional Script SupervisorCarley Armstrong
• Production Sound MixerColin Nicolson
• EditorCraig Wood
• ProducerDavid B. Householter
• ProducerAvi Arad
• Art DirectionMeg Jones
• First Assistant EditorSimon Morgan
• Music SupervisorSpring Aspers
• Art DirectionDanielle Bayliss
• Set DecorationSusannah Brough
• Assistant EditorMikayla Theone Khramov
• CastingMary Vernieu
• CastingRaylin Sabo
• CastingNicola Chisholm
• Art DirectionPatrick Harris
• Music EditorAndrew Silver
• Script SupervisorPaula Casarin
• Supervising Art DirectorDaryn McLaughlan
• Assistant EditorJoe Zappia
• Music EditorCurt Sobel

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• hunter
• superhero
• anti hero
• villain
• based on comic
• supervillain
• intense
• admiring
• ominous

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2024-12-13R
• Digital2025-01-14R
• Digital2025-03-13R· Netflix
• Digital2026-09-13R· Disney+
• Physical2025-03-04R· 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray / DVD

Also known as

International titles

• كرايفن ذي هانترSA
• كرايفن ذي هانترEG
• קרייבן הציידIL
• Kraven ovçuAZ
• Kraven el CazadorES
• Kraven el CazadorMX
• Kraven el CazadorAR
• Kraven el CazadorEC
• Kraven, o CaçadorBR
• Որսորդ ՔրեյվենըAM
• Kraven Le ChasseurCA
• Крейвен-охотникRU