Played only $30.5 million”Shazam! Anger of the godsat the US box office. That is not only well below the $ 53.5 million that predecessor ‘Shazam!’ 2019 starts, but above all well below expectations, which have already been adjusted downwards. Most recently, David F. Sandberg’s superhero movie was believed to open at least between $35 and $40 million. It’s no consolation that it still took first place at the US box office, ahead of “Scream VI” ($17.5 million) and “Creed III” ($15.4 million). In the absence of restart competition, this is a matter of course.
No DC minus record only thanks to the pandemic
Incidentally, only the corona pandemic prevents “Shazam” 2″ from writing a DC minus record with these numbers. Because two films started even worse: “Wonder Woman 1984” with $ 16.7 million and “The Suicide Squad” with $ 26 million. Both however, started under completely different circumstances – namely at a time when there were still restrictions due to the pandemic and both films could therefore also be viewed in parallel on the streaming service HBO Max.
Whether the $125 million sequel is even in the black remains to be seen. In any case, it is foreseeable that “Shazam! 2” will not only fall short of its predecessor’s $140.5 million total at the US box office, but also its $366 million worldwide gross.
“Shazam! 2” also disappoints in the rest of the world
Because the superhero sequel with Zachary Levi and Rachel Zegler is also disappointing in the rest of the world. Outside the US, it made just $35 million — a 65 percent drop from Shazam’s launch! Worldwide, Shazam! Fury Of The Gods,” the predecessor still cost $158.6 million after its launch weekend – a massive 58 percent drop.
The fact that the cinema market, the second strongest after the US, has been completely wiped out, also plays a major role in this. The turnover from China is only $ 4.4 million, the predecessor opened here with $ 30.9 million.
Also in Germany there was not much interest in “Shazam 2!” According to forecasts, between 90,000 and 95,000 tickets were sold – that is only third place behind “Sonne und Beton” (approx. 140,000) and “Creed III” (approx. 115,000) and of course behind the result of the predecessor (125,000 at the start).
Director David F. Sandberg is not surprised
Director David F. Sandberg spoke through Incidentally, already at the beginning of the weekend about the disappointing box office figures that were still predicted at that time. In a Reddit post, he said he wasn’t surprised. He had long seen it coming. He was still fine, he was paid in advance.
The statement caused quite a stir on social media. It was suggested to Sandberg that he knew his movie was bad and that it would make him flop, so he was paid in advance. However, this interpretation takes the statement out of context. That Sandberg had long known that “Shazam 2!” would disappoint at the box office says nothing about the quality of the film. Studios detect interest in a movie well in advance and are rarely surprised by box office results. And of course they also share this information with filmmakers.
That is why the expected turnover was adjusted in advance to 35 to 40 million dollars. You already knew that there was much less interest in the new DC adventure than expected at the time of filming. In a Twitter post, Sandberg made this clear, also explaining that his statement about his payment was just a cheeky remark garnished with a smiling face:
Although Shazam 2! is a disappointment, DC and Warner hope the next superhero movie will be a different story. Because “The Flash” hits theaters in mid-June 2023 and the studio is convinced that the multiverse adventure from “ES” director Andy Muschietti and “Birds Of Prey” author Christina Hodson is really, really good. We’ve written down what it’s all about and how superstar Tom Cruise is now adding to the hype that’s just starting to ignite: