EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Seasonal retailer Spirit Halloween recently announced that they provided all costumes and wardrobe for Sony Pictures’ upcoming superhero film, Madame Web.
“We can’t put into words how excited we at Spirit Halloween are for this partnership,” said Adriana Compton, a spokesperson for the costume retailer. “It’s a form of product integration that we’ve previously only dreamed about. Sure, we’ve licensed the likenesses and images of superheroes and produced imitations before, but it always gets bogged down in red tape. Our experience with Madame Web was much more efficient. We designed the outfits, sent the patterns to our tailors overseas who made a million units of each one, and mailed a box with a couple dozen costumes to the set. We make sure to pack a few extra for when— I mean, if they rip. The rest sit in our warehouses until October.”
Dakota Johnson, who portrays the titular Web, commented on the experience.
“I certainly have some experience with unique wardrobe situations,” said Johnson, referring to her turn in the Fifty Shades franchise. “I definitely wasn’t sure about the costume during the fittings, or even when we were shooting. The strings down the back that tied it shut were always swinging around and distracting me. Plus, on cold nights, they made us all wear coats over our costumes. I didn’t know how it would look on camera. But when I got that first glimpse of the full bodysuit on that bottle of Ocean Spray from China, I knew the producers had made the right call.”
Film historian and Oscar voter Daniel Moses related the story to other films that used unique production vendors.
“Well, sci-fi works have been using literal toys as props for years,” said Moses. “‘Star Wars,’ ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Doctor Who,’ and a bunch of others. When you’re watching an episode of ‘The Mandalorian,’ only about five percent of that is real, live action footage. The rest is just toys. If you look closely, you can see the hands bashing them together. I mean, that’s the point of the show — that’s what they’re trying to sell. Why wouldn’t they put the toys front and center?”
At press time, Spirit had entered a bidding war with Party City for the contract to dress Sony’s next Spider-man adjacent production, Kraven the Hunter.
