‘Shazam! wrath of the gods
Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
DC and New Line Cinema’s Shazam! Wrath of the Gods is the superhero image scorned.
The film opened to $30.5 million domestically from 4,071 theaters, well behind the first’s $53.5 million domestic opening. Shazam! in 2019, not adjusted for inflation.
This is one of the worst starts for a major Hollywood superhero movie, as well as one of the worst DC Cinematic Universe titles, including movies released during the pandemic. Wrath of the Gods costing at least $110 million to produce before marketing.
The news was equally bad abroad, where Wrath of the Gods opened to just $35M from 78 markets – including China bombing with $4.4M – for a worldwide total of $65.5M.
In North America, pre-release monitoring had been proposed Shazam! Wrath of the Gods would open to at least $35 million this weekend. Others believed it had $40 million.
Shazam 2The Rotten Tomatoes critics score is 54 percent. This is 90 percent for the 2019 movie. The sequel also received a more subdued B+ CinemaScore compared to the first’s A.
Families – which played a key role in the surprise success of the first film – are still challenging Film presentation in the era of the pandemic. Parents and children also participated in the sequel.
Wrath of the Gods is the 12th installment in the DC Extended Universe and the first installment since Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav caught James Gunn and Shazam! franchise producer Peter Safran heads DC Studios and plans a complete overhaul.
Wrath of the Gods also comes when the future of DC characters and actors introduced before Gunn and Safran’s takeover hangs in the balance. For example, Superman actor Henry Cavill will not return. Levi talked about his future at Tuesday’s Hollywood premiere, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “I’m very happy with this movie. … I hope it’s not the last one.”
Directed by David F. Sandberg Shazam! Wrath of the Gods From a screenplay by Henry Gayden and Chris Morgan. Asher Angel and Zachary Levi return as Billy Bastson aka Shazam. Djimon Hounson, Helen Mirren, Lucy Liu and his first film since his role in Spielberg west side ShakingRachel Zegler, also stars.
The weekend’s other new wide release was Roadside Attractions’ Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin’s Let’s move on, which debuted to around $2 million from 791 screens. The comedy was based on older adults who, like families, are a challenging demo. Let’s move on came No. 12.
Back to the top 10, Cry VI grossed $17.5 million from 3,675 theaters for a domestic total of $76 million. The slasher picture dropped 61 percent. Overseas, it earned another $11.3 million in 53 markets for a $40 million overseas haul—a good showing for a horror film—and $116 million worldwide on a $33 million budget.
Creed III also remained a significant contender, earning $15.3 million from 3,477 locations in its third outing for a domestic total of $127.6 million. The Michael B. Jordan pic added $12 million internationally from 75 markets for a foreign cume of $96.6 million and a worldwide cume of $224.3 million.
Willem Defoe’s heist thriller from Focus Features at the special box office Indoors placed 14th and earned $470,000 from 375 places.
March 19, 7:45 am: Updated with revised estimates.