How much will ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ make at the box office?

It’s been almost four years since the last ‘Shazam’ film hit theaters and quite a bit has changed in the DC universe since then. Many fans have been quick to point out that this sequel has a relatively low budget in comparison to other DC films, and that might have quite an impact on its box office success.

The first ‘Shazam’ movie, which came out in 2019, opened with $53.3 million and went on to gross $366 million. It also had a budget of $100 million and inspired the spin-off film ‘Black Adam’, which grossed even more with $393 million total and had a $190 to $260 million budget.

‘Black Adam’ vs ‘Shazam’

In comparison, ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’, which is set to be released March 17, 2023, had a budget of $100 to $125 million which is on par with the original film, but modest in comparison to the spin-off movie ‘Black Adam.’

However, ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ may fall short when it comes to the expected box office earnings. According to Variety, based on early estimates, the sequel is only expected to make $35 to $40 million from the 4,000 North American cinemas during its opening weekend.

So while the two films had similar budgets, the sequel is expected to make almost less than half of what the original film did within its opening weekend. In comparison to DC’s previous budgets, both films are relatively low.

In 2017, ‘Justice League’ had a budget of $300 million, while ‘Batman v Superman’ ‘Man of Steel,’ ‘The Batman’ and ‘Suicide Squad’ all had budgets between $180 to $300 million.

Other competing films

While ‘Shazam 2′ is this weekend’s only nationwide release, it’s been a packed month for the domestic box office. Just in March alone, Michael B Jordan’s ‘Creed III’ and the slasher series ‘Scream VI’ have beat their own box office expectations.

‘Shazam 2′ will also be Warner Brother’s only major release for March. Their next big pictures are ‘Evil Dead Rise’ coming out on April 21, and ‘The Flash’, which hits theaters on June 16, followed by Geta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ opening on July 21.