鈥� 鈥� felt the fury of the marketplace in its theatrical debut this weekend. The New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. superhero movie opened to a disappointing $30.5 million from 4,071 theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The 鈥淪hazam!鈥� sequel fell short of its modest expectations ($35 million) as well as the first film in the series ($53.5 million in April 2019), and earned a place on the very low end of modern DC comics movie launches, between 鈥淏irds of Prey鈥� ($33 million in February 2020) and 鈥淭he Suicide Squad鈥� ($26.2 million in August 2021), both of which were R-rated.
Directed by David F. Sandberg, 鈥淪hazam! Fury of the Gods鈥� brought back Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Adam Brody and Djimon Hounsou, and added Helen Mirren, Rachel Zegler and Lucy Liu. , many of whom found the first film charming, were largely underwhelmed by this outing. It currently holds a 53% Rotten Tomatoes critic score.
Audiences were more positive about the sequel, giving it a B+ CinemaScore overall. Younger crowds were even more favorable.
鈥淭his movie clearly was lighter than we thought it would be,鈥� said Jeff Goldstein, the head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. 鈥淲e know there鈥檚 a rolling spring break over the next few weeks when kids are available, which is who it's targeted towards. We鈥檙e hopeful that we can get a big multiple.鈥�
鈥淪hazam! Fury of the Gods鈥� cost a reported $125 million to produce, not factoring in marketing and promotion costs. Internationally, it grossed $35 million from 77 overseas markets including China, bringing its total earnings to $65.5 million.
The DC shop at Warner Bros. has been going through a major recalibration for the past several months, with forging a path ahead for the DC Universe that will officially kick off with . 鈥淪hazam! 2鈥� was one of several holdovers of the old regime, which includes 鈥淭he Flash鈥� coming in June and a new 鈥淎quaman鈥� in December.
鈥淧art of our company鈥檚 total overhaul of DC with Peter Safran and James Gunn is to reset it for the future,鈥� Goldstein said. 鈥淚t's all about the future for us.鈥�
For Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, there's a silver lining in that Warner Bros. and DC have 鈥渁nother No. 1 under their belt.鈥�
鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to readjust and realign the brand,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 change the trajectory for a brand as big as DC without it taking some time. This is a work in progress and this is one step in that journey.鈥�
Second place went to 鈥淪cream IV鈥� in its second weekend in theaters. The horror pic, distributed by Paramount, fell 61% from its debut and added $17.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $76 million.
In its third weekend, 鈥淐reed III鈥� grossed an additional $15.4 million to land in the No. 3 spot. The film, directed by and starring Michael B. Jordan has now earned $127.7 million in North America. 鈥�65鈥� and "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" rounded out the top five with $5.8 million and $4.1 million, respectively.
Following its Oscar sweep last Sunday, A24 added over 1,000 screens for an encore 鈥� 鈥� run, where it earned an additional $1.2 million. 鈥淭he Whale,鈥� for which , played on 509 screens and made $145,230.
鈥淲hat audiences are enjoying right now is a diversity of content,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥淥verall, it鈥檚 shaping up to be a strong month with 鈥� 鈥� and 鈥� 鈥� getting franchise best debuts. We may see the same with 'John Wick 4'.鈥�
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore, with Wednesday through Sunday in parentheses. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. 鈥淪hazam! Fury of the Gods,鈥� $30.5 million. 2. 鈥淪cream VI,鈥� $17.5 million. 3. 鈥淐reed III,鈥� $15.4 million. 4. 鈥�65,鈥� $5.8 million. 5. 鈥淎nt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,鈥� $4.1 million. 6. 鈥淐ocaine Bear,鈥� $3.9 million. 7. 鈥淛esus Revolution,鈥� $3.5 million. 8. 鈥淐hampions,鈥� $3 million. 9. 鈥淎vatar: The Way of Water,鈥� $1.9 million. 10. 鈥淧uss in Boots: The Last Wish,鈥� $1.5 million.
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
