We aren’t looking at peak-pandemic-era numbers, but Shazam! Fury of the Gods could be off to a rough start in its opening weekend.
Per Box Office Pro’s current forecasts, the DCEU sequel will earn between $43 million and $52 million during its opening weekend in North America. Even at the stronger side of $52 million, that’s still below the $53 million 2019’s Shazam! brought in.
The first film wasn’t exactly a global smash hit, bringing in only $363.6 million worldwide, but it was still enough for Warner Bros, at the time, to greenlight this sequel. Given the rebranding from DC Studios co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran, it seems unlikely we’ll see more of this version of the character any time soon.
Still, this won’t be the worst opening for a DCEU project ever. That belongs to pandemic-era releases Wonder Woman 1984 brought in $16.7 million, and The Suicide Squad saw only $26.2 million, the latter something James Gunn is still pursuing within his new vision of DC Studios.
This could still change before the release and positive reviews for Shazam! Fury of the Gods could give the project some much-needed word-of-mouth. The film is set for release on March 17th.
Bestowed with the powers of the gods, Billy Batson and his fellow foster kids are still learning how to juggle teenage life with having adult Super Hero alter-egos. But when the Daughters of Atlas, a vengeful trio of ancient gods, arrive on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them long ago, Billy—aka Shazam—and his family are thrust into a battle for their superpowers, their lives, and the fate of their world.
Shazam: Fury of the Gods is being directed by David F. Sandberg and sees the return of Zachary Levi alongside fellow cast members Asher Angel as Billy Batson, Jack Dylan Grazer and Adam Brody as Freddy Freeman, Faith Herman and Meagan Good as Darla Dudley, Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield, Ian Chen and Ross Butler as Eugene Choi, Jovan Armand and D.J. Cotrona as Pedro Pena, Marta Milans as Rosa Vasquez, Cooper Andrews as Victor Vasquez, and Djimon Hounsou as The Wizard. New additions to the cast include Helen Mirren as Hespera, Lucy Liu as Kalypso, and Rachel Zegler as Anthea.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods arrives in cinemas on March 17th.
