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Warner Bros./New Line/DC’s “Shazam!: Fury of the Gods” is off to a rocky start at the box office. After an opening day of $11.7 million from 4,071 theaters, the sequel to the 2019 superhero film starring Zachary Levi is projected for a $30 million opening weekend.
Unless there’s significant turnout from families during matinee screenings this weekend, “Shazam 2” will open below projections for a $35 million opening. As it stands, the sequel is set to open 44% below the $53.5 million opening that the first “Shazam” earned in April 2019.
While that film had strong critic reviews with a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score and an A on CinemaScore, “Shazam 2” isn’t doing as well with a mediocre 54% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ on CinemaScore, the latter of which is the same as the ill-fated DC film “Black Adam” last fall. While families may still turnout for the film as spring break at schools roll through the next three weeks, these results don’t signal significant interest from general audiences, which could be fatal for the film with “John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” on the horizon.
“Shazam 2” is already seeing significant competition for general moviegoers from previous March releases. Paramount/Spyglass’ “Scream VI” is projected to earn $18 million in its second weekend, a 60% drop from its $45 million weekend. With an estimated two-weekend total of $76.5 million, the slasher film is set to pass the domestic total of last year’s “Scream” sometime in the coming week.
MGM’s “Creed III” is in third with an estimated $15.8 million to give it an estimated $125 million in North America after three weekends. That’s enough to pass the domestic total of “Creed II,” which made $115 million in winter 2018.
