Shazam! Fury of the Gods is officially out in theatres and so far the response has been... underwhelming.
Even the film's director David F Sandberg confessed during opening weekend that the film's underperformance didn't 'come as a surprise'.
The superhero sequel was expected to collect at least $35 million to $40 million in the US/Canada box office on opening weekend - which isn't a lot, considering it cost $110 million to make plus an extra $100 million to market - but it still only managed to hit $30.5 million.
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This marks one of the worst opening weekends for the DC Cinematic Universe, aside from films like Wonder Woman 1984 and The Suicide Squad - both of which dropped during the pandemic.
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While discussing the film's box office flop, Redditors said they felt sorry for director David F Sandberg.
"David F Sandberg deserves better. I wanna see him return to horror," commented one user.
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Tagging David in a comment, another assured the director: "We are rooting for you!"
David, with his attention now drawn to the Reddit thread, decided to give his two cents on the film's performance.
In a now-deleted comment, he wrote: "No worries. It’s not like this comes as a surprise.
"I saw where this was heading a long time ago. I’ll be alright though. I got paid all my money upfront."
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When David's comment was then shared on Twitter, the director clarified: "That’s not what I meant.
"I meant I knew what the box office tracking was looking like.
"The pay comment was just me being cheeky."
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David later added in another tweet that, following the reaction to Shazam! 2, he's 'definitely done with superheroes for now.'
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He wrote: "On Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critic score and my highest audience score on the same film.
"I wasn’t expecting a repeat of the first movie critically but I was still a little surprised because I think it’s a good film. Oh well.
"As I’ve been saying for a while now I’m very eager to go back to horror (as well as trying some new things). After six years of Shazam I’m definitely done with superheroes for now."
Shazam! Fury of the Gods continues the story of Billy Batson, who has been bestowed with the powers of the gods.
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He and his fellow foster kids are trying to get a hang of their adult superhero alter egos when a trio of ancient gods arrive on Earth in search of the powers that were stolen from them.
Billy (aka Shazam) and his pals must battle for their powers, their lives, and the fate of the world.
The film sees Zachary Levi and Asher Angel return as Billy Batson/ Shazam, while Ross Butler, Adam Brody, Meagan Good, and DJ Cotrona play superhero versions of Billy's friends.
Meanwhile the three vengeful gods are played by Helen Mirren, Lucy, Liu, and Rachel Zegler.
Topics: Film and TV, DC Comics