At this point, it’s safe to call David F. Sandberg‘s “Shazam! Fury Of The Gods” a flop.
17.03.2023 - 19:17 / deadline.com
New Line’s DC sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods got off the ground at 3 p.m. Thursday and posted $3.4M in previews at 3,400 theaters.
That’s less than the first Shazam! back in April 2019, which did $5.9M in its Thursday previews (off showtimes that began at 4 p.m.). Shazam! also had another $3.3M in previous Fandango previews back in the day, for a grand preview total of $9.2M before a $20.3M Friday and a $53.5M opening.
Fury of the Gods, from the same director as Chapter 1, David F. Sandberg, is expected to come in under the first and will be lucky to hit $40M (domestic outlook is $35M, $85M global). We’ve been in a hot marketplace whereby sequels have been setting franchise-opening records, read Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($106.1M), Creed III ($58.3M) and Scream VI ($44.4M). That doesn’t seem to be the case here with Shazam! Fury of the Gods. We’ll keep watch if its situation improves.
The sequel is currently 54% Rotten with Critics with an 84% audience score, this versus the 2019 installment that was 90% certified fresh with an 82% audience score. That said, the first Shazam! was able to pull off an A CinemaScore. General audiences on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak gave the first film four stars.
Why make a sequel? The first one opened well and, despite making close to $366M worldwide, made a little profit for New Line with a net of $74M. DC Studios Co-Chief Peter Safran is a producer on the Shazam! franchise.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods bounced around the calendar, impacted by the pandemic, like several other films, but the most recent previous release date was December 21. Warner Bros. moved the sequel away from Avatar: The Way of Water, much to the upset of exhibitors, who were expecting more bucks at
At this point, it’s safe to call David F. Sandberg‘s “Shazam! Fury Of The Gods” a flop.
Dwayne Johnson blocked Black Adam stars from appearing in the post-credits scene of Shazam! Fury Of The Gods.Director David F. Sandberg previously revealed that members of Black Adam‘s Justice Society of America were originally slated to appear in Fury Of The Gods, but that the scene “fell apart three days before we were going to roll cameras,” forcing him to find different characters.On Tuesday (March 21), The Wrap reported that Johnson actively blocked the characters from appearing in the Shazam! sequel, and that he also denied Levi a cameo in Black Adam.In an Instagram story on Tuesday, Levi shared a post mentioning The Wrap’s report and seemingly confirmed it by adding: “The truth shall set you free.”Elsewhere, Levi recently agreed with a tweet suggesting Zack Snyder fans are “happy” that Fury Of The Gods failed at the box office.“There is no denying that at the moment there are many Snyder fans who are happy for the failure of your film and many of them wish that everything that is to come fails just for not continuing with the films of their director,” one fan wrote to Levi on Twitter.“This is also true,” Levi replied in a since deleted tweet.
Shazam! Fury Of The Gods has failed at the box office.The DC sequel earned $30million (£24million) at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, which is well below the $53million (£44million) the original Shazam! opened with in 2019.Fury Of The Gods cost a reported $110million (£90million) to make and a further $100million (£80million) to market, so the film has recorded a huge loss overall.Levi, who stars as the titular hero in both films, made sure not to blame Snyder fans for the box office failure but acknowledged that many of them would be happy to see the film underperform after Warner Bros. dropped Snyder’s DC Universe.“There is no denying that at the moment there are many Snyder fans who are happy for the failure of your film and many of them wish that everything that is to come fails just for not continuing with the films of their director,” one fan wrote to Levi on Twitter.“This is also true,” Levi replied in a since deleted tweet.
Zachary Levi is commenting on the report that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson blocked his character Black Adam from appearing in an end credits scene for Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
If you don’t follow David F. Sandberg on social media, you definitely should.
David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods was released and the director is opening up about the heavy criticism against the DC film.
The marketing push for “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” has been an odd one, no doubt. The questions about the film’s future amid the soft reboot from new DC Studios co-CEOs, James Gunn and Peter Safran, dominated the discourse.
The gods are looking furious indeed.
Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Shazam wasn’t the magic word at the weekend box office. “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” opened to No. 1 in North America, but the Warner Bros. and DC Comics sequel fell short of expectations with its disappointing $30.5 million debut from 4,071 theaters. Heading into the weekend, the film was expected to collect $35 million to $40 million, which already wasn’t all that spectacular since it cost north of $110 million to make and another $100 millions more to market. It’s a substantial drop from 2019’s “Shazam,” the first comic book installment starring Zachary Levi’s quirky hero, which opened to $53.5 million and ended its box office run with $140 million domestically and $366 million globally. It’s also one of the worst starts in the DC Cinematic Universe, other than pandemic-era releases like “Wonder Woman 1984” ($16.7 million) and “The Suicide Squad” ($26 million), which both opened simultaneously on HBO Max.
Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” currently playing in theaters. Zachary Levi returns as Billy Baston/Shazam in “Shazam! Fury of the Gods.” In the DC superhero sequel, a trio of vindictive sorceresses called the Daughters of Atlas — led by Helen Mirren as Hespera, Lucy Liu as Kalypso and Rachel Zegler as Anthea — want to avenge their father and take back the power of the gods they believe was stolen from Shazam and his crew. David F. Sandberg directs and, in true superhero style, peppers easter eggs throughout the film for the most eagle-eyed superhero fans.
When New Line/DC’s Shazam: Fury of the Gods hit tracking four weeks ago with a low $35M projection, it was shocking and not shocking to rival distributors. Shocking, because in a spring full of franchise tentpoles, many of which are seeing record opening domestic highs, how can a DC property like Shazam! not keep up with the pack? Not shocking in that — well, it’s a goofy, old Shazam!
After that Superman fake-out in the first movie, director David F. Sandberg knew that if he was going to pull off another DC cameo in the sequel, it would have to be for real this time.And he pulled it off! Just as all hope seemed lost in the final act, Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), appeared to save Shazam (Zachary Levi) and leave her favorite fanboy swooning.«We wanted to poke fun at the first movie where we had to obscure Superman’s face,» Sandberg told ET's Ash Crossan ahead of the film's release. «On this one, I actually didn't believe it was going to happen, because she was in the script from day one but… Gal couldn't be there [for some of the filming] so we had to do it with a stand in.
$53.5 million opening weekend, beating projections of a $45 million launch. Heading into this weekend, “Shazam 2” projections have stayed at $35 to 38 million.While there is still a possibility that this $100 million superhero film could still pass the break-even point from such an opening weekend, the film would have to gather considerable word-of-mouth in the coming weeks to do so, particularly among families looking for a day at the movies as schools have spring break on a rolling basis through late March and early April.That word-of-mouth won’t get help from critics, who after praising the first “Shazam!” are very mixed on “Fury of the Gods” with a 55% Rotten Tomatoes score at time of writing.“Shazam!: Fury of the Gods” is one of four DC films that were greenlit by the superhero label’s previous leadership, with the others being “The Flash” in June, “Blue Beetle” in August, and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” on Christmas Day.
Jordan Moreau The “Fury of the Gods” may not be all that furious. Warner Bros. and DC’s “Shazam” sequel is taking flight with $3.4 million at the domestic box office in Thursday previews, behind the original movie’s preview haul in 2019. The sequel to Zachary Levi’s superhero movie will land with a smaller opening than its predecessor. The first “Shazam” movie had $5.9 million in Thursday previews before opening with $53.5 million in April 2019. It went on to gross $140 million domestically and $366 million globally. However, “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” is only expected to bring in $35 million to $40 million. Each of the “Shazam” movies cost $100 million to produce, but that’s a significant drop from the original.
DC superhero outing Shazam! Fury Of The Gods hits cinemas this month.Directed by David F. Sandberg (Lights Out), the sequel sees Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his foster siblings transform into superheroes once again to take on a new threat in the Daughters of Atlas.Zachary Levi returns as the super-charged alter-ego of Billy, aka Shazam.
One of the things that made “Shazam!” so engaging, entertaining, and different was that it brought humor, an endearing irreverence, and an exploration and development of character that satisfied the initiated but also drew in the unfamiliar. It felt natural, full of vigor, and inspired.
The Shazamily is back, and on a much larger scale, but at its heart this superhero saga is still about family, and that’s the good thing here.
In the pantheon of DC superhero movies, David F. Sandberg’s “Shazam!” still stands out as something special: an emotional, character-driven film with good humor and an actual point to make that never let flashy spectacle get in the way of telling a wonderful, personal story.It would be nice to report that the sequel, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” follows in that tradition.
“Shazam: Fury of Gods” is anticipated to overtake “Scream VI” and rule the box office this week, but the total gross won’t shatter any records.
New Line’s Covid-delayed DC sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods finally will hit theaters this weekend in 77 offshore territories and the U.S. with a global outlook between $80M-$85M — $35M of that coming from domestic.