“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” is anything but a blockbuster, probably even the bad word flop fits it a lot better. While expectations (already lowered before the movie started) weren’t particularly ambitious, the sequel to “Shazam!” actually at the cash register. In fact, currently, it seems that “Fury of the Gods” can’t even keep up with the revenue ($140.5 million at the US box office and $366 million worldwide) from the first film of 2019. More on the bleak outlook for Shazam! 2” you can read here:
That’s why “Shazam!” director David F. Sandberg has had enough of superheroes
Apparently it’s not just the audience with “Shazam!” ready, but also director David F. Sandberg. Through he announced in a long thread that he is now turning his back on the superhero genre to get closer to his movie roots: “I crave horror (and try some new things). After six years of Shazam, I’m done with superheroes for now.”
But even if this statement initially sounds like bitterness, Sandberg notes that he thinks “Fury of the Gods” is a good movie and has not regretted it for a second. He explains that he learned a lot through the projects and of course got to work with a lot of great people.
A stone seems to fall from Sandberg’s heart, especially since he is no longer involved in the superhero discoursewhich plays out non-stop in the vastness of the internet and sometimes takes on ugly forms: “A lot of it has really stressed me out and it will be nice not to have to think about it anymore”.
Exactly what Sandberg means when he writes that he wants to try new things in the horror genre remains to be seen. With ‘Lights Out’ (2016) and ‘Annabelle 2’ (2017) he has already shown that he can do something with the genre. However, it seems pretty certain that there won’t be a “Shazam! 3” movie…