A $30M+ opening for ‘Shazam! Fury Of The Gods’ doesn’t fly with moviegoers – Sunday Box Office
Sunday AM Writethrough When New Line/DC’s Shazam: Fury of the Gods hit tracking four weeks ago with a low $35M projection, rival distributors were shocked but not surprised. 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? Well, it’s just a goofy, old Shazam, after all!
Projections for Shazam!
Fury of the Gods initially suggested a low start, yet despite heavy promotion and an $85M global projection, the David F. Sandberg-directed sequel only brought in $30.5M domestically, down 43% from the first movie’s $53.5M opening. Warner Bros. production, headed up by newly installed DC cohead Peter Safran, saw global returns of $65.5M – a miss on predictions.
There is a 42% drop in Shazam 2’s Friday (and previews) compared to the first pic’s $20M Friday+previews. The film would still be off from the first film’s stateside start even if it benefited from family matinees and opened to $35M-$40M. We live in a marketplace where superhero sequels often outperform their predecessors in the box office.
The sequel to DC’s Captain Marvel, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, saw an audience diagnosis off from its predecessor. The B+ CinemaScore for the second title was lower than the first’s A and brought a smaller demographic (56% 18-34) compared to 64% from part one. Despite garnering a 79% positive exit score with 59% recommending it in 2019, similar success was found this time round with 78% positively rating and 64% recommending it. Men over 25 proved to be the biggest demographic back then taking up 35%: their grade dropped to 77%, although there share increased to 40%. Rivals are adamant that Shazam! didn’t perform well enough for another movie; however New Line still went ahead with Fury of the Gods as the first gained a $75M profit after ancillaries on a production cost of $100M and a global marketing spend of $105M.
Warners didn’t skimp on their marketing for Shazam! Fury of the Gods. They showcased the movie’s trailer and cast at San Diego Comic-Con last July. According to survey results, 18% of viewers cited the in-theater trailer, while 16% said the YouTube trailer were key influencers. Critics say the materials presented were too lighthearted and that the slogan “Everybody is a Shazam” minimizes his superhero powers.
This was, however, always the spirit of this DC superhero, since the first one.
In addition, Warner distribution did a good job protecting Shazam 2. Ensuring it would have access to Imax and PLF ticket formats this weekend by removing it from Avatar. The Way of Water at Christmas. Imax ticket sales were $2.6M at 401 auditoriums this weekend. This weekend, premium tickets accounted for 36% of the pic’s business.
There is no want-to-see among core DC fans for this sequel. Which explains why Shazam hasn’t been able to fly at the box office. DC Bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran are trying to fix that problem. As it is not a part of a connective tissue within the DC universe. Nor was it ever. The creators have been very public about laying out the new multiverse. And Shazam wasn’t guaranteed to be part of “Chapter One. Gods and Monsters.”
Shazam’s exclusion has taken a lot away from what would have been an entertaining, individual movie. DC enthusiasts may not find it essential viewing though; one reasons Shazam was made through. New Line was due comedic nature in comparison prestigiousness of Batman. Wonder Woman, Flash and Aquaman. Even though Gunn and Safran are still committed to keeping Zachary Levi’s character in the sequel. He specifically told Deadline’s Natalie Sitek that should another installment be made. “It all comes down to what the people want.”
On June 16, Gunn and Safran are confident that the previously Walter Hamada-designed. The Flash will be able to bring together the entire DC universe in one new revamped umbrella. During the DC press day in January, Gunn said, “As everyone here knows, DC’s history is pretty messed up. It was messed up.”
Gunn argued that day,
noting the numerous projects currently available: the Arrowverse. the DC EU. Joss Whedon’s Justice League. the Snyderverse, Superman and Lois. as well as the Reeves verse. Furthermore, he pointed to both Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, mentioning that Bat Mite has become a real character. All due IPs being given away like party favors without properly monitoring them. To counter this, Gunn proposed that from their first project onward, everything needs to be unified.
In a similar way to Marvel’s Ant-Man, Shazam is a family movie. Due to the fact that Marvel Studios has made the deeper universe character important context of a larger universe. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has grown the franchise’s openings to an all-time high of $106.1M.
As part threequel, Jonathan Majors played new villain Kang Conqueror, who introduced MCU in the Disney+ series Loki. It isn’t necessary for the audience of Batman and Spider-Man: No Way Home to spend time with Shazam part 2. In terms of the larger canon, he isn’t serious enough for them.
In the context of Shazam!
Fury of the Gods’ lackluster opening, there was another inherent element that didn’t work. And that was the aging up of Billy Batson from a 12-year-old in the 2019 film to a teenager sequel. As a superhero version of Tom Hanks classic Big, the first Shazam! charmed, but aging up Shazam isn’t so adorable. No one was looking for a sequel to superhero Big.
Clearly, the box office has yet to recover from its pre-pandemic glory days. With only an estimated $94.5M this past weekend, grosses were up 13% from 2020 but down 29% from 2018 ($132.8M) and 32% off 2019 levels ($139.8M). While it appears family films doing just fine–considering Puss in Boots 2. Sing 2. and Spider-Man: No Way Home all did quite well same cannot be said more frequent moviegoers who haven’t come back with same frequency as before.
It’ll take time to revive the market. It took two years to break it and now we need two more years to bring it back up.
LA, NYC, Dallas, Houston, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Washington were the top ten markets for Shazam! AMC Burbank, AMC Disney Springs Orlando, Santikos Palladium San Antonio, Harkins Estrella Falls Phoenix. Santikos Casa Blanca San Antonio. AMC Empire NYC, Regal Warren in Moore, OK. AMC Lincoln Square NYC, Cinemark Town Center in Pharr, TX, and Cinemark Tinseltown in El Paso, TX.
Do Shazam! Fury of the Gods still profit since it missed its $85M global launch off of a $125M production cost? The sequel will have similar marketing costs to the first, if not lower. Since Warner Bros Discovery is focusing on promoting its IPs at an efficient cost through their own and operated. TV and streaming tentacles. According to those in the know, getting Shazam! Fury of the Gods in black will be extremely difficult.
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