Shazam! Fury of the Gods Tracking for Surprising Domestic Opening Weekend

Shazam! Fury of the Gods is tracking for a surprisingly low domestic weekend at the box office. A new report from Deadline says that the DC sequel could be eyeing a $35 million start to the film’s theatrical run. That would solidly put Fury of the Gods into the range of one of the lowest DC movie openings ever. The first Shazam! Easily outperformed expectations by snagging $53 million in its opening weekend. Zachary Levi’s first time as the Big Red Cheese saw a $140 million domestic take as well. 

Analysts would point to Birds of Prey as the only movie it would out-gross. (However, a lot of that conjecture actually doesn’t mention that the Harley Quinn-led project opened literally a week before the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All of that severely stunted its box office potential on the way to the $84 million domestic gross.) At any rate, it would be a strange moment for a sequel to a movie that a lot of DC fans loved when it debuted. It will be interesting to see Fury of the Gods clear that hurdle.

What Does The Future Hold For DC Studios?

James Gunn has a whole bunch of ideas for the future of the DC Universe. But, a lot of fans wonder if those plans will involve Shazam! In any way. The series stars are hopeful that there’s some room for their plot lines among the new era of Gods and Monsters.

 “I am a fan of the DC universe and a bit of a comic book nerd myself… But yeah, I’m really, really curious and excited to see what [DC Studios co-lead] James Gunn does and what stories he brings out, Shazam! 2 star Caroline Currey explained in a recent interview. “And I’ve worked with Peter [Safran] since I was 18, and he’s just so lovely, and I think… he really elevated the horror film genre and I’m really curious to see what they do with DC.”

“I think we’re in incredible hands,” Currey added. “I got excited about the slate, because I know James Gunn just brings so much to comic book lore and he’s so well-versed. So yeah, I’m not in the conversations, of course. You know, I’m along for the ride.”

Here’s how DC Comics is billing the second movie in the franchise: “In Shazam! Fury of the Gods, when Billy Batson and his foster siblings, who transform into superheroes by saying “Shazam!”, are forced to get back into action and fight the Daughters of Atlas, they must stop them from using a weapon that could destroy the world in which they must travel in order to make peace with the Gods because of Billy taking their powers for granted.”

How do you think Shazam! 2 will do at the Box Office? Let us know down in the comments!