‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ opens with a grim $11.7 million at the box office

‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ premieres this weekend and opened to $11.7 million with $3.4 million coming from Thursday preview screenings. Despite opening in the number one spot at the box office, the ‘Shazam!’ sequel is expected to gross less than the first film.

The original ‘Shazam!’ from 2019 grossed almost twice as much with $20.3 million on its first day. ‘Fury of the Gods’ also has a larger production budget than the first at $125 million, so the current box office numbers are less than ideal.

Mediocre reviews

The movie currently sits at 54 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a B+ on CinemaScore from fans.

Some have praised the film for having a lot of heart but found the execution messy.

One reviewer, Courtney Howard from Fresh Fiction, said: “A lot is going on within the narrative, and one pivotal character’s motives flip-flop so many times they put in a line that cracks wise about it.”

“Still, it all comes together in a gloriously berserk third act that features a mythical monsterpalooza, a badass dragon, a well-earned sacrifice and Skittles,” she concluded.

The general consensus suggests that it may still be a fun film for DC fans to tune into.

James Gunn reboots the DC universe

A possible reason for the unsatisfactory performance in numbers might be because the film is a product of the old DC Studios before James Gunn was brought on board.

Gunn was hired in November 2022 and has since set out to completely revamp the DC Universe. This meant that many DC projects were canceled such as ‘Wonder Woman 3′ and many actors, like Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent, were going to be recast.

However, Gunn has announced 10 new movies and TV shows that he hopes will launch the DC cinematic universe into new success when they release starting in 2025.

The list of confirmed movies includes ‘Superman: Legacy’, ‘Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow’, ‘The Authority’, ‘Swamp Thing’ and ‘The Brave and the Bold’.

The list of confirmed television shows includes ‘Lanterns’, ‘Creature Commandos’, ‘Booster Gold’, ‘Waller’ and ‘Paradise Lost’.