'Shazam!' Produces Major Disappoint at the Weekend Box Office
by EG
The first film in Warner Bros' revamped DC cinematic universe, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, has not painted a rosy picture for the future of the mega-franchise. Shazam! delivered a historically disappointing debut weekend, even by pandemic-era standards. The film not only performed poorly in North Amercia, but it also bombed internationally. That doesn't bode well for the new DC universe helmed by Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn and Peter Safran. Gunn and Safran have shaken up the DC universe roadmap, and their first step on the journey has been shockingly shakey. Read on for details.
DC and New Line Cinema’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods is a superhero pic scorned.
The movie opened to a dismal $30.5 million domestically from 4,071 theaters, well behind the $53.5 million domestic opening of the first Shazam! in 2019, not adjusted for inflation.
That’s one of the worst starts for a major Hollywood superhero film, as well as one of the worst for a title in the DC Cinematic Universe, including those released during the pandemic. Fury of the Gods cost at least $110 million to produce before marketing.
The news was just as bad overseas, where Fury of the Gods opened to just $35 million from 78 markets -- including bombing in China with $4.4 million -- for a worldwide start of $65.5 million.
In North America, prerelease tracking had suggested Shazam! Fury of the Gods would open to at least $35 million this weekend. Others believed it had a shot at $40 million.
Shazam 2‘s Rotten Tomatoes critics score is a ho-hum 54 percent. That compares to 90 percent for the 2019 movie. The sequel also received a more subdued B+ CinemaScore, compared to an A for the first.
Families -- which played a key role in the first movie’s surprise success -- remain a challenging moviegoing demo in the pandemic era. Parents and kids also turned out for the sequel.
Fury of the Gods is the 12th installment in the DC Extended Universe and the first to be released since Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav tapped James Gunn and Shazam! franchise producer Peter Safran to run DC Studios and engineer a complete overhaul.
Fury of the Gods also comes as the future of the DC characters and actors introduced before Gunn and Safran’s takeover hangs in the balance.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.