Shazam 2 Just Earned The Worst Possible Record In DC History
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is officially the lowest-earning DC movie at the box office.
It was a rocky start for the second installment of the Zachary Levi-led superhero franchise Shazam and an even worse run at the box office which landed Shazam 2 to earn the not-so-coveted title of being DC’s worst box office earner. We know what you’re thinking: what about Ryan Reynold’s laughable time in Green Lantern or Halle Berry in Catwoman? Those low-earners preceded the company’s true foray into the extended universe by a handful of years making Shazam! Fury of the Gods the lowest earner – raking in only $133.4 million at the global box office.
These numbers are an especially tough pill to swallow when you take into account that both Wonder Woman 1984 and The Suicide Squad still managed to outperform Shazam 2 despite being released in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously during the heaviest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. With audiences lining up to see the first Shazam! back in 2019, making more than $200 million over its sequel, there’s the question of how did the title failed.
Perhaps the biggest strike against Shazam 2 came from its proximity to the DC overhaul by new studio heads James Gunn and Peter Safran. The duo rose to the top of DC Studios on the first day of November 2022, completely flipping everything we thought we knew on its head. From their almost immediate decision to go in a different direction with the Superman movies and not rehiring Henry Cavill for the part that he’s played for over a decade, the changes made by Safran and Gunn ultimately affected Fury of the Gods in very negative ways.
Marvel fans go to the cinema knowing that they will get a storyline that ties into other MCU productions as well as seeing the familiar faces who have portrayed the roles for – in some cases – more than 10 years. Unfortunately, many DC fans haven’t had that same comfort with actors (and directors) bouncing in and out and long-running storylines changing. Such was the case with Cavill’s Man of Steel, who was gearing up for an appearance in Shazam 2 before being cut.
Despite being in a box office slump, there’s no doubt that David Zaslav and the rest of the big wigs at Warner Bros. aren’t sweating the hole in their pockets that was left by Shazam 2. This summer will bring the arrival of the Ezra Miller-led standalone feature The Flash which is already proving to be a box office winner, even gaining such positive feedback as comparing it to Christopher Nolan’s critically and fan-celebrated Dark Knight franchise.
There’s also the fact that James Gunn is moving forward as the director of Superman: Legacy which promises to take the franchise in an entirely new direction. Coming hot off the success of his final installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy, DC is no doubt feeling more than lucky to have Gunn in their corner to reshape what comes next. In case you want to catch it for yourself Shazam 2 will begin streaming on HBO Max on May 23.
