"Shazam: Fury of the Gods" Opens at #1 with Disappointing $30M

[JamesG]

Box Office: Shazam: Fury of the Gods Stumbles with $30 Million Opening Weekend
by Rebecca Rubin
March 19, 2023


Shazam wasn’t the magic word at the weekend box office.

Shazam: Fury of the Gods opened to No. 1 in North America, but the Warner Bros. and DC Comics sequel fell short of expectations with its disappointing $30.5 million debut from 4,071 theaters. Heading into the weekend, the film was expected to collect $35 million to $40 million, which already wasn’t all that spectacular since it cost north of $110 million to make and another $100 million to market.




It’s a substantial drop from 2019’s Shazam, the first comic book installment starring Zachary Levi’s quirky hero, which opened to $53.5 million and ended its box office run with $140 million domestically and $366 million globally.

It’s also one of the worst starts in the DC Cinematic Universe, other than pandemic-era releases like Wonder Woman 1984 ($16.7 million) and The Suicide Squad ($26 million), which both opened simultaneously on HBO Max.




At the international box office, Shazam 2 added $35 million from 77 markets for a dismal global start of $65.5 million.

Reviews and word-of-mouth may not help in the coming weeks. It landed a “B+” CinemaScore, down from the first film’s “A” grade. It also holds a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, a dramatic decline from the original’s 90% average.







Elsewhere at the box office, Paramount’s thriller Scream VI slid to second place with $17.5 million from 3,676 North American cinemas.

Those ticket sales, down 61% from its stellar $41 million debut, bring the sequel’s domestic tally to $76 million after two weeks on the big screen. The horror film has added another $40 million internationally, bringing its global tally to $116 million.







Michael B. Jordan’s sports drama Creed III took third place with $15.3 million from 3,477 venues, down just 44% from the weekend prior. After three weeks of release, the film has generated a stellar $127.7 million.

Already, the third Creed movie has out-earned its predecessors as the first film ended its run with $109 million and the sequel tapped out with $115 million.







Sony’s prehistoric sci-fi thriller 65 landed at No. 4 with $5.8 million from 3,405 cinemas, a 54% drop from its debut.

The film, starring Adam Driver, has grossed $22.4 million to date, which isn’t a great result given the $45 million budget.







Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania rounded out the top five with $4.1 million from 2,650 theaters in its fifth weekend of release. So far, it has generated $205 million in North America, above the original Ant-Man ($180 million) and behind the 2018 sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp ($216 million).

But with $462 million globally, ticket sales for Ant-Man 3 are dramatically below the first movie with $519 million and the follow-up with $622 million.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/b...es-1235558787/







March 17-19, 2023: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Shazam! Fury of the Gods $30,111,158
2. Scream VI $17,334,035 / $75,863,319
3. Creed III $15,377,310 / $127,704,446
4. 65 $5,850,714 / $22,478,109
5. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania $4,217,709 / $205,980,059
6. Cocaine Bear $3,957,585 / $58,576,655
7. Jesus Revolution $3,484,323 / $45,524,023
8. Champions $3,107,025 / $10,666,930
9. Avatar: The Way of Water $2,098,036 / $678,284,190
10. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish $1,549,420 / $182,633,600

[TMC]

7 Reasons Shazam! Fury of the Gods Bombed At The Box Office

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is bombing at the box office, and there are several reasons why the DC Studios sequel is underperforming financially.