David F. Sandberg, the director of “Shazam!” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” took to Twitter to address the sequel’s poor critics’ reviews following its opening weekend.
“On Rotten Tomatoes I just got my lowest critic score and my highest audience score on the same film,” Sandberg tweeted with a shrug emoji. “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 of Monday, “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” has a middling 52% rating among all critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Among top critics, it drops to 27%. That’s in sharp contrast to the audience rating, which is a favorable 88%. (For comparison, 2019’s “Shazam!” had a 90% critics score and 88% audience score.)
Still, Sandberg took the reviews in stride and praised the cast and crew.
“Just to be clear, I don’t regret even for a second making the Shazam movies. I’ve learned so much and gotten to work with some truly amazing people. Will forever be grateful that I got to direct two of these! They’ve been very challenging but valuable experiences.” he wrote.
As for what’s next, Sandberg said he’ll be stepping away from the superhero genre and returning to horror. The Swedish director made his directorial debut with 2016’s “Lights Out,” followed by 2017’s “Annabelle Creation,” part of The Conjuring universe. Those films were rated 77% and 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively.
“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,” Sandberg added. He’s also done with the online discourse around superhero films, which he said “stresses him out.”
Read his Twitter thread below:
“Shazam! Fury of the Gods” underperformed at the box office, with a $30.5 million opening from 4,071 theaters, 44% down from the $53.5 million opening of the first “Shazam!” in 2019. Projections had the superhero sequel at $35-38 million.
And while TheWrap’s critic William Bibbiani praised the acting and heart at the core of the film, he wrote, “When “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” tries to look like a big blockbuster action movie it comes across as perfunctory and soulless.”
Up next for Sandberg? Directing a horror movie with Lionsgate called “The Culling.”
“Shazam: Fury of the Gods” is currently in theaters.
