Shazam! Fury Of The Gods Opening Weekend Box Office Probably Killed The Franchise
It's generally considered big news when a new superhero movie opens at the box office. This past weekend was no exception as "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" finally hit theaters, serving as a sequel to one of DC's most acclaimed movies. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. won't be poppin' champagne this time around, as the follow-up had an absolutely abysmal opening weekend, taking in far less than its predecessor on a larger budget. In short? This franchise is probably dead in the water.
Director David F. Sandberg's "Shazam!" sequel took in $30.5 million this past weekend, per Box Office Mojo. This is well below industry estimates, which had it making around $40 million. And let's be very clear, even that would have been extremely disappointing, given that the original opened to $53.5 million back in 2019. And, not to pile on here, but that was on the lower side of things for a big superhero movie these days, even if we are talking about a character who wasn't all that well known in the mainstream prior to his big screen debut. All of this to say, this is a disastrous result. The deeper we dig, the worse it gets.
Internationally, "Fury of the Gods" also fizzled with just $35 million, including a dismal $4.4 million in China. That gave it a global opening of just $65.5 million. The film is said to carry a budget of $125 million. The good news is that's far less than many franchise blockbusters these days. The bad news is it's a lot more than the first movie, which cost between $90 and $100 million. Add in the cost of marketing (pegged around $100 million), and we've got a full-blown trainwreck here.
What went wrong?
The only DCEU movies to have a worse opening weekend were "Wonder Woman 1984" ($16.7 million) and "The Suicide Squad" ($26.2 million). Both of those came out during the height of the pandemic though, and both were also released on HBO Max on the same day they hit theaters. "Fury of the Gods" is exclusively in theaters at a time when the pandemic is no longer much of a factor at all when it comes to moviegoers deciding whether to go to a theater or not. So yes, this is a pretty brutal outcome for a sequel that had breakout potential written all over it.
Warner Bros. at least moved the film away from "Avatar: The Way of Water," which it had been scheduled to open directly against. So the studio can't be accused of not at least trying to find a good release date. Aside from that, the critical response has been a bit rough, with "Fury of the Gods" sitting at a mere 52% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the original holds a stellar 90%. The Cinemascore is also at a so-so B+, meaning we probably can't count on any sort of word of mouth to bail this one out in the coming weeks.
Aside from the critical response, Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced its plans for a rebooted DC Universe under the direction of James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new co-heads of DC Studios. That new plan is going to leave most of the past behind. That being the case, many hardcore DC fans might wonder what's the point of seeing this movie when a reboot is coming? Unfortunately, it's a not-invalid question when cinematic universes are all the rage. Whatever the case, "Shazam!" is almost certainly not coming to the new DCU. This is the end of the line.
And the rest...
Meanwhile, "Scream VI" fell 60.6% in its second weekend for a $17.5 million sophomore haul. Even with the kind of big drop, the sixth entry in the series is pacing well ahead of the 2022 installment and currently sits at $76 million domestic/$40 million internationally for a $116 million total. Last year's entry tapped out at $81.6 million domestic. So things are looking good for Ghostface at this point.
"Creed III" also continued to do its thing, adding another $15.3 million in its third weekend. That brings it to $127.7 million domestic/$96.6 million internationally for $224.3 million worldwide to date. That means it has already surpassed "Creed II" ($213 million) and will very soon pass the original "Rocky" ($225 million) to become the second-biggest entry in the franchise ever, trailing only "Rocky IV" ($300 million). Needless to say, the "Creed" franchise will continue to expand.
Rounding out the top five were "65" ($5.8 million) and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" ($4.07 million). While "65" is not doing as well as Sony hoped, it may actually end up getting bailed out overseas, where it has made $16.4 million so far and has a release pending in China. But it's certainly not going to be a hit. Looking ahead to this upcoming weekend, we've got "John Wick: Chapter 4" hitting theaters, riding a wave of positive buzz following its premiere at SXSW last week. Needless to say, there will be a new champ in town. You can check out the full list of the top ten movies from this past weekend below.
Top ten movies at the box office March 17 – 19, 2023
1. "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" – $30.5 million
2. "Scream VI" – $17.5 million
3. "Creed III" – $15.3 million
4. "65" – $5.8 million
5. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" – $4.07 million
6. "Cocaine Bear" – $3.87 million
7. "Jesus Revolution" $3.5 million
8. "Champions" – $3.03 million
9. "Avatar: The Way of Water" – $1.92 million
10. "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" – $1.51 million